Amnesia
by Janine1
Summary: A girl with Amnesia shows up in a stasis pod, and comes aboard Red Dwarf. She can barley remember a thing about herself. She starts to discover memories in dreams. Things get interesting once they track down Red Dwarf! All reviews appriciated! COMPLETE!
1. Chapter 1

Amnesia  
  
By Janine Morris  
  
PG-13 (sexual references)  
  
A/N: Yes, I know, Tacky romances seem to be my specialty. Hopefully this won't be just like all the other character insertion pieces. It may seem like it in the beginning, but I hope to make it stand out. By the way, I know this is cheating, but Rimmer is alive in this one. Lets just say in Timeslides he never died, please?!?  
  
Disclaimer: blah blah blah. Like a bunch of Grant Naylor lawyers really have time to surf through FanFiction searching for fics that havn't been disclaimed properly. Just incase they are, I have a few words for them, GET A HOBBY!!!  
  
Dedication: This is dedicated to Starfruit, and Chris Barrie, THE MAN himself!  
  
  
  
Chapter 1  
  
Olivia opened her eyes. She wasn't exactly sure where she was. In fact, she couldn't remember much of anything. She rubbed her eyes. It felt like she had just woken up from a deep sleep. She noticed someone's face about a foot away from her own. It startled her a little bit.  
  
"Hi" He said with a chirpy smile.  
  
Olivia attempted to speak, but nothing came out.  
  
"Sir, I couldn't find any information about her in the stasis pod." Came another voice. This voice was very peculiar. Olivia felt as if she were in a dream. Slowly she sat up. Her mouth dropped open a little bit. She still couldn't speak. Someone handed her a glass of water, and she chugged it down. She looked around at the strangers that surrounded her and felt the urge to scream in fear. She contained herself, and kept quiet.  
  
"Sir, I believe she is going into shock mode." Said the peculiar voice. The voice belonged to… well, Olivia wasn't sure what it was. She just knew it wasn't human.  
  
"Hey, don't be scared." Said the sympathetic voice.  
  
Olivia sighed. "Hi" She said softly. The robot dude was kind of right about the shock mode.  
  
"Hey! I'm Dave Lister, this is Cat," He pointed to a very fit looking guy with long hair in a ponytail. What was this guy doing with a name like Cat? He smiled, and Olivia noticed his fangs. They startled her. That was probably why. "Kryten," Now he pointed at the robot. "And Rimmer." He pointed towards a taller man with dark brown hair. His voice suddenly didn't sound so sympathetic.  
  
"Arnold J Rimmer, Bsc Ssc." He reached a hand out, and she shook it nervously. Olivia noticed his strong accept. She wasn't used to them like that.  
  
"So who are you?" Asked Dave.  
  
Olivia wasn't sure if she should tell these strangers her name. Then she decided she probably should. "Olivia Angeledis" She said softly again. She looked down at what she was wearing. Her T-shirt was stained and ripped, and Her jeans were almost completely ripped up. Her hair was ok, though.  
  
"So what are you doing in a stasis pod, Olivia?" Asked Dave.  
  
Olivia thought for a moment, but drew a blank. "I really don't know. What's a stasis pod?"  
  
The guys looked at each other in confusion. "Maybe She has amnesia." Suggested Arnold. The others agreed.  
  
"Miss Angeledis, can you remember when and where you were born?" Asked Kryten.  
  
That was something Olivia could remember. "May 17, 1988. In America" She said.  
  
Everyone accept the Cat gasped. Rimmer most of all. "Could she be serious?" He asked Kryten.  
  
"Lets find out." He said to Arnold. "Ma'am, who was the president when you were born?"  
  
"George Bush… the first one." She replied, still a bit confused.  
  
"Extraordinary." Said Kryten, speeding up the 5 syllable word into about 3.  
  
"Ask her another." Said Arnold.  
  
"Alright then, what was attacked by terrorists on September 11th, 2001?"  
  
"That was I day I could never forget." Said Olivia. "The world trade centers in New York, and part of the Pentagon. Lots of people dies." Why were they asking her these questions? "What's the year now?"  
  
"Um, that's a really long story." Said Lister.  
  
"I've got time." She said. Olivia was beginning to lighten up.  
  
The four of them explained everything to her. The radiation leek, and now they were 3 million years into the future. Olivia was shocked beyond belief. "You **cannot** be serious!" She shouted.  
  
"Um, we are." Said Dave.  
  
Olivia began to feel lightheaded. How the hell did she get here? She knew she was in her twenties, but could barley remember anything past high school. Even that was fuzzy. "So, I have amnesia? I can't remember anything!"  
  
"I'll go make up the spare quarters for you, ma'am." Said Kryten, as he walked off.  
  
"So where exactly am I now?" Olivia asked.  
  
"This is Starbug. We lost track of Red Dwarf awhile back, someone stole it."  
  
Kryten returned 15 minutes later, and lead Olivia to her new quarters. She needed time alone to think. She politely asked for a moment to herself, and the others left.  
  
Olivia was so confused and mixed up. She had no idea of how she could have ended up here. She had just been a B average high school student, last she could remember. Were those guys lying to her? It was like part of her memory was locked up in a box, and she couldn't figure out the combination to the lock. It was just so annoying, she searched through her mind for anything, but there wasn't a single hint! She could have sat there and thought about that all day, and it wouldn't have made anymore sense to her at all, so she decided to think of something else. The crew. Lister had been pretty nice to her. There was something about him a little familiar. Not like she knew him, but he looked like someone she knew… or didn't know. She couldn't think straight. The others really hadn't said much of anything.  
  
"Ma'am. Can I come in? I've brought you a tray of food." It was Kryten.  
  
"Sure" She said, trying to be polite.  
  
The odd looking robot waddled into the room holding the tray with a small vase of flowers on it. It also had some toast, cereal, and juice. Olivia gave a small smile and thanked him, and he left the room. She began to eat. She hadn't realized how hungry she was. She ate everything on her plate.  
  
What she was younger, probably late middle school or early high school, she liked to think. She was even considering being a research scientist. By the looks of things now, it didn't look she became one. One of the things she liked to wonder about was the future. Well if she was 3,000,000 years into the future, all those questions she had been wondering could all be answered. Well, some of them at least. Were the others going to think she was really uncool and out of date? Probably. Olivia didn't like the thought of that. Their technology was far above her time. She would just have to get used to that somehow.  
  
  
  
Olivia walked out of her quarters about an hour later. She was ready to face them. She wanted to become friends. Build some trust. It was essential since they were probably the only other humans, and robots, and cats…? She looked around for them, but there was no one around. It wasn't that big of a ship, she could find them. She began to search around until she could faintly hear their voices. She walked closer to the closed door and listened.  
  
"Lister, I don't think you're being fair!" that was Arnold's voice. He sounded angry.  
  
"Yeah? Who said life had to be fair? And besides, why would she ever even consider you?" that was Dave. Consider you? What did he mean? Did they just want her because she was the last female? Probably. And that was understandable, but it still upset her a little. Dave seemed kind of selfish. He was kind if implying that she would defiantly choose him. She didn't know them yet. They were all pretty good looking, well, accept for Kryten.  
  
"Hey Baby!"  
  
Olivia turned around. There was the Cat dressed in a really georgous looking blue suit. Her eyes widened. She was speechless for a few moments. She studied him up and down. "I'm The Cat!" He introduced himself to her again.  
  
"Um, hi" She said nervously.  
  
"So, would you like to have sex now, or should we eat dinner first?" He smiled, showing his odd looking fangs.  
  
Olivia laughed, thinking it was a joke. She really didn't know how to respond.  
  
The cat kept smiling like he expected an answer. There was a very awkward silence. Fortunately Arnold and Dave saved her. They both walked out of their quarters after hearing her voice outside.  
  
"So how are you settling in?" Dave asked her.  
  
"Just fine" She replied. She kind of wished she could talk to one of them alone. She always did much better in a one-on-one conversation.  
  
Olivia had tracked down some nicer cloths. She was now wearing black trousers and a red V-neck shirt. She had found them in the back of one of the closets.  
  
Olivia wished she wasn't so quiet around them. She wanted them to get to know her. There was just something about her that would not allow that to happen. She wanted to say something, but it was like she had a filter in her mind holding everything back accept a few words. Once she got to know people the filter would ware out, but not break. There were still so many things that were left unsaid.  
  
"Olivia, I was wondering if you would like to have dinner with us all tonight. We can celebrate." Said Dave. He sounded hopeful.  
  
"Celebrate what?" She asked, not quite understanding.  
  
"You being here, of course." Se replied,  
  
Being here didn't seem like much to celebrate, but she couldn't refuse.  
  
  
  
Three hours later, Olivia was sitting uncomfortably at a table with the others. Arnold, Dave and the Cat were all drunk. Even Kryten himself was a bit unstable after the mechanoid beer. Olivia had sipped at a can of Lager and spat it out. It tasted awful to her. Pretty much all drugs did. She wondered if she had ever been drunk in her life. As far as she knew she never had more then a half class of whine, but anything could have happened between high school and now. She watched as the others started to act obscure and spill out stories of their lives. Dave explained how he had lived on Mimas and lived in a luggage locker. The word Mimas seemed to ring a bell in Olivia's mind, but it didn't bring back any memories. It just seemed like a familiar word.  
  
Arnold told her about his parents. He spilled many heart breaking stories about his childhood. Well, at least they were heartbreaking to Olivia, the others just laughed at him, which got him incredibly pissed off. His cheek bones even jiggled when he was angry. Olivia really didn't know what to do about this. While the others told many things to Olivia, Olivia told them close to nothing about herself. She may have told them something if she could even remember anything, but the truth was, she didn't know who she was. She was a stranger to herself.  
  
By the end of the night, she admitted to having a nice time. She had, she had gotten to know the other members of the crew better, and became pretty friendly with them. She just wished she could have let them get to know her. She sighed. That would just take time.  
  
Olivia retired to her quarters, but had a lot of trouble getting to sleep. There was too much to think about. She wanted to know what she had forgotten. She could only remember large details. She could remember basic things like where she used to live, and who her family was, but she didn't remember anything that she had done, or who she really was. It bothered her so much. She was 3 million years into the future, how come there was no cure for amnesia? The only cure was time, which she would have a lot of.  
  
Olivia got out of bed. She was tired, but her mind was very awake, and would not allow her eyes to shut. She looked around the dark halls of Starbug. She walked back to the table she had been sitting at earlier. Dave, Cat, and Kryten were gone, but there was Arnold. He was sitting alone in a chair. He looked quite deep in his thoughts, and Olivia wondered if she should interrupt him. She silently walked in the room. She was lonely.  
  
"Hi" She said.  
  
His head instantly jerked up and he gazed at her. "Hi" He said. He sounded a little bit drunk, but the way he said 'Hi' made her feel like she was meant to be there, like he was happy to see her. She couldn't help smiling at him. In her opinion, he was attractive. He could see why in most peoples mind he wouldn't be, but Olivia didn't look at people the way most people did. She looked behind someone's facial features to see their character. He was very attractive, especially looking sad and lonely the way he had been. His hair was quite messed up, but Olivia liked it that way.  
  
Olivia sat down across from him. They stared at each other. Olivia was looking into his brown eyes. She looked down at the table. Silence. The silence bothered her a bit. Arnold wasn't much of a talker, but that was ok.  
  
"couldn't sleep either?" She asked him. She just didn't like the silence.  
  
"No" He said  
  
"Oh" She wanted to talk to him. Maybe talk about his childhood some more. There were so many things she wanted to say to him. She wanted to comfort him, hug him. He was adorable. He was also quite annoying. It wasn't anything that couldn't be fixed with a little bit of talk, but he seemed to be very angry at his parents. In everything he had told her earlier. He had blamed his problems on his parents. He had told her about his brothers who were perfect. Olivia couldn't exactly relate, from what she could remember, she had a pretty nice family.  
  
Arnold seemed to be avoiding eye contact now. Olivia thought of what to say. She needed something, anything. 'The weather? What am I, an idiot? Were out in the middle of deep space' She thought to herself. "So, do you like it here?" She asked him. That seemed like a pretty good thing to ask.  
  
He thought for a moment. "Its not being here that bothers me, its who I'm here with." He replied. Olivia could totally tell that he and the others did not get along. They were completely wrong for each other! Who's cruel idea was it to put them on a little ship like this alone?  
  
"Yeah, I can understand that." She said. "So who would you rather be here with?"  
  
"Well…" he posed like he was thinking very hard. "Well, anybody but Lister."  
  
Olivia smiled again. "Hate him that much?" he nodded "Well, I'm here now, and I count as anybody but Lister, right?"  
  
"Yes, I suppose you do…" He suddenly became silent as he realized he was talking to a woman.  
  
There was a long silence again where neither of them looked at each other. Olivia didn't know what to say. He was obviously shy. Olivia liked shy people. Sure, it was nice when people were talkative, but shy people intrigued her. They had mystery. They didn't show you their entire personality at once. She knew she would eventually solve Arnold Rimmer's mystery, but like many other things, that would take time.  
  
"so… you're a girl then?" he asked. That one just seemed to come completely out of no where.  
  
"yeah." She said. Her voice sounded so American and boring compared to his. His was very cool in her mind. She loved the way it sounded. It made it fun to hear him talk. Too bad he didn't talk much.  
  
"Well, I should go back to my quarters. You probably don't want to talk to me. I'll leave you alone." He got up to leave.  
  
"Wait." Said Olivia. Arnold looked over his shoulder. "I… I don't want you to go. I was kind of hoping we could talk some more… if you want." Olivia wanted to hit herself for how tacky that sounded.  
  
"Oh" That seemed to take him by surprise. He didn't move for a few moments. "Maybe some other time." He mumbled as he quickly dashed out of the room.  
  
Olivia giggled to herself. That made her feel a little better. She walked back to her own quarters and finally got to sleep. She had a dream that night. A little fragment of her memory. It wasn't anything interesting. In her dream she was in her early twenties. She was sitting in an extremely crowded café with some friends. The moment she saw their faces she knew they looked familiar. They had to be her friends. She watched herself as she sipped café and laughed.  
  
The dream comforted her a little bit. It seemed so familiar that she knew it had to have happened to her, or something much like it must of. It wasn't much, but at least it was a tiny hint. Maybe it would lead to her remembering more. Where could she have been? She couldn't remember a café like that when she was younger, but that didn't mean that there was no café.  
  
Olivia wasn't normally an early riser, but after her dream she couldn't sleep anymore, so she got out of bed. It was six o'clock. The ship was completely silent. Olivia looked into Arnold and Dave's quarters. They were both sleeping like babies. She smiled to herself.  
  
"Excuse me ma'am, can I get you some breakfast?"  
  
Olivia was startled. She turned around and there was Kryten. "um, sure." 


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Thanks for the reviews so far. I promise everything (well mostly) will make sense at the end, and if it doesn't then you can criticize me of that all u want! Any and all reviews are appreciated. I would appreciate some constructive criticism if anyone has any!  
  
Chapter 2  
  
Once again, the small ship was silent. Dave would never be up at this hour, and Arnold, the one who prided himself on being an early riser, was too hung over to get up. Olivia hadn't had anything to drink the previous night, and no one really seemed to notice. The Cat was no where to be seen. While Olivia ate breakfast, she listened while Kryten tried to explain about the evolution of the Cat. Evolution was a topic that particularly fascinated her, so it was very interesting to hear about it.  
  
"… So Since Mister Lister was Frankenstein's owner at the time, and he freed her, the cat race sees him as their god, and has a bible. They call him Cloister the stupid." He explained.  
  
"Cloister the Stupid? He really doesn't mind being called that?" Asked Olivia.  
  
"Well, this Cat doesn't call him that. In fact this Cat is completely vane and self centered." Kryten explained.  
  
Olivia nodded. She could kind of tell. He had acted so strangely the night before when she had first met him. Olivia still felt out of place here, but it was better now. It seemed too strange that she could just end up here. She thought about the dream she had the night before. Where was that Café? This was going to take some serious getting used to. Olivia finished her breakfast. "Thank you for the breakfast, It was great." She said.  
  
Kryten smiled. "Finally, someone appreciates me."  
  
Olivia smiled again and walked out of the room. She walked over to Arnold and Dave's quarters expecting them to be asleep. The door of their quarters was closed. She was about to walk away, when she heard voices. They were coming from inside their quarters, of course.  
  
"She's really attractive, isn't she, man?" That was Dave. Olivia was slightly annoyed, and slightly flattered. She put her ear up against the door so she could hear better.  
  
"Of course she is." Arnold sounded annoyed. Like he was admitting it was true, but was upset about it. Olivia listened in closer, hoping not to be caught. She was glad they thought she was attractive, but that was not the only thing that mattered to her. She had to admit sometimes she could be a little shallow, but who wasn't? That probably wouldn't even prove to be a problem here. Sometimes she could be a very deep person, too.  
  
"What's wrong, man?" Hmm, Dave sounded like he cared about Arnold. A little bit maybe. "You afraid I'll get to her before you do? Why would she even want to go near you?" Never mind that. Olivia let out a silent sigh. She could imagine Arnold becoming a shade of purple right at the moment. There was no answer for quite some time, and Olivia became very curious to what was happening. After about a minute of silence Olivia gave up and walked back to her quarters. There would be time to eavesdrop later. As far as she knew she was still a virgin. She didn't really want to die a virgin. They did seem to want her here, maybe she could achieve it here, but with who? Olivia rested her head on a pillow and stared at the ceiling. She didn't believe in meaningless sex. She would just have to take it day by day. Obviously the Cat hadn't been kidding about asking her for sex. Maybe he just didn't know how to ask someone. When would he have learned? He didn't grow up with television like Olivia. He grew up all by himself.  
  
Just at that moment, almost on cue, the cat did a twirl and slid in the room. "Hey there, baby!" he said, smiling to show his sharp fangs.  
  
"Hi, Cat." She said casually, showing a friendly smile.  
  
"You're lookin' nice!" He said. Olivia looked at her clothes. She hadn't changed out of the ones she was wearing the night before.  
  
"Um, Thanks. You too." He on the other hand was now wearing a black and white leopard print jacket that went down to his knees. Olivia liked that look a lot.  
  
"I already know that!" He said, smirking. He obviously didn't know how to take a compliment.  
  
Olivia looked at the clock. It was 9 o'clock now.  
  
Dave knocked at her door, even though it was open, then walked in uninvited. Olivia didn't mind. "Hey" He said.  
  
She showed him another friendly smile. "Hi"  
  
The Cat looked at the clock. "Well, I'm late for my nine o' clock nap. I'll catch you later." And with that he walked out of the room shaking his bottom. Olivia fought back a laugh.  
  
"Good Morning, Miss Angeledis ma'am" There was Arnold, standing semi- proudly behind him. He was probably hoping she had forgotten the embarrassing things he had told her last night while he was drunk. Unfortunately for him, she hadn't, but wasn't planning on holding them against him.  
  
"Good morning, Arnold. By the way, you can just call me Olivia." She said, softly, She didn't know what was with her. The more people listening to what she said, the quieter she became. She couldn't help being shy. One thing she could remember about herself was that she could go a long time being silent. She would be talking to more then a few people and she would say nothing. She would stand there wondering if she was really in the conversation or not.  
  
Kryten appeared behind the 2 of them. "I have some news that may amuse you. I seem to have located a S3 planetoid on the scans." Kryten exclaimed.  
  
Arnold raised an eyebrow. "Really, I don't suppose its been claimed?"  
  
"No sir, it has not been claimed." Kryten explained. It seemed obvious since they were 3 million light years into deep space.  
  
"Then we must claim it. For the Space Corps, of course." He had his head held up high. Olivia could tell he was trying to impress her. She held back another laugh and kept a straight face this time. She really didn't like all the attention. She was used to being ignored.  
  
Lister sighed and rested his head in his palm for a moment. "Rimmer, smeg. I don't think she wants to sit through all twenty-three anthems of the space corps. Now she couldn't keep beck her laughter. Their life was almost like a TV show (ironically). "See, Man?"  
  
"I believe she can speak for herself, Lister. Olivia?" He looked at her hopeful. It didn't sound very interesting to her, but she just got here, she couldn't turn him down.  
  
"Um, sure." She replied. She didn't make eye contact.  
  
"Why would you want to do that?" Asked Dave.  
  
"Hey, Smeg for brains, you heard her." Said Arnold. He smirked at Dave, then looked over at Olivia and gave her a cheerful smile.  
  
"It'll take us awhile to get there, but I'll be sure to notify you when we arrive, sir." Said Kryten, turning around and walking out of the room.  
  
"This sure is strange." She said.  
  
"What is?" Dave asked her.  
  
"Everything! Its just so different, you know?" She said.  
  
Dave shrugged. "I guess so" he was obviously used to it. He grew up in the generation that invented all this high tech stuff. It was hard to Imagine she was in space. Space travel was something for astronauts, but obviously the human race had done quite a bit since she was younger. They even took over quite a few different planets and moons after her generation. It was pretty amazing that she got to experience it all.  
  
"Hey, is it possible for me to have access to thing like, Oh I don't know… old newspapers and stuff like that? To see the things I missed and all." Olivia asked. It would really be fascinating to see them.  
  
"Not here on Starbug, but on Red Dwarf there are some in the libraries." Arnold replied. "But could I interest you in taking a look ay my collection of twentieth century telegraph poles?" Once again he looked hopeful.  
  
She smiled. "I'm from the twentieth century. I don't exactly think that would be too interesting to me, sorry."  
  
"Well then, you must be an expert!"  
  
Olivia paused "No, not really." Her voiced lowered a few notches. Dave playfully hit Arnold and laughed at him. "Sorry" She added on. She really didn't want to be rude. If it weren't for them she would be floating in a stasis pod somewhere.  
  
Arnold looked down. He was just so adorable! Olivia had to admit it to herself. Maybe she would be able to pull him out of this shyness. He seemed like an interesting person. So did Dave, but she could also tell he was kind of a slob. They both had their interesting points, though.  
  
~  
  
"Mister Rimmer sir! Miss Angeledis ma'am!" Shouted Kryten.  
  
"Its Olivia!" She shouted back. She didn't mean to be rude.  
  
"We are about to land on the planetoid." Exclaimed the mechanoid.  
  
"Brilliant! I'll go fetch the space corps flag." Said Arnold. Olivia followed him. Arnold searched through storage until he found one. "here it is." He said. He didn't completely realize Olivia had followed him. He realized once he looked up and saw her in the doorway. He froze. There she was.  
  
"Alright, we've landed. The atmosphere is breathable." Kryten informed them.  
  
"Great!" Said Olivia cheerfully. She was beginning to get into this thing. Maybe this would be fun, claiming a planet. Too bad they couldn't claim it for themselves instead of the space corps.  
  
She, Arnold and Kryten stepped onto the planetoid. It looked so empty, like a huge desert of nothingness. The gravity seemed to be exactly like the gravity on the ship, and on earth. She had almost expected to be able to jump like you see astronauts on the moon, but was not able to. Strange.  
  
"Olivia, would you like the honors of placing the space corps flag in?" Arnold asked her. He reached out for her to take it.  
  
"Sure" She replied. She took the flag and stuck it in the dry soil. She didn't make it seem like a big thing when she did it, she just stuck it in.  
  
"Yes, well then…" Arnold began to sing the first anthem, while Kryten accompanied him with background music. It got boring very fast. She just stood there listening to song after song. She felt her eyelids getting heavy. She yawned softly to herself. Arnold was on his fifteenth song. Finally he was almost done. Olivia had lost count and just barley kept awake.  
  
There was a rumble. That sure woke her up. The shaking grew faster and bigger. Arnold stopped singing. They were both silent.  
  
"Terror form!" Exclaimed Kryten  
  
Olivia could literally see the land eroding, new land being formed. She was too shocked to make a sound. She could hear screaming from Arnold. Screams of agony, yet she didn't move. She couldn't! She was completely frozen. Olivia was thrown to the ground while the entire planet began to erupt. She finally was able to scream. She screamed a loud ear-piercing scream of terror. She had never seen anything like it. She began to feel pain, but her brain wasn't functioning well enough for her to figure out what it was from.  
  
~  
  
Olivia rubbed her eyes. Her entire body was in pain. She lightly touched her face feeling many bruises. Her entire body was covered in debris of all sorts. Luckily nothing was broken. She was able to get up. She was still in shock. "Arnold? Anyone?" No one answered. Now she was scared. She began to look around. The planetoid was no longer empty, it was no longer a desert of nothingness. Now it was dark, and full of swamps. The kind of setting for a horror movie. Nothing familiar was around her. She began to walk around. She felt something wet and slimly at her feet. She had just stepped into a swamp. She tried to ignore it and keep walking, trying to avoid it, but it was all around her. Where was she? Where did everyone go? She could hear animal sounds around her, but not normal ones. It sounded like the toads were saying… "useless" That was incredibly strange!  
  
There were thick clouds of fog all around her. She heard evil laughter from a nearby bush. She kept on walking, looking for anything or anyone she could find, but found nothing of use to her. "Where the smegging hell am I?" She shouted. She had heard the others use the word 'smeg' and she kind of liked it. Her heart began to beat faster and she began to sweat as she heard more evil laughter. It was obvious she wasn't alone. She knew Arnold or Kryten couldn't make that low pitched sound no matter how hard they tried. She began to see the yellow glow of the figures eyes, and she hit. Had it spotted her? She could hear movement, more of them. She closed her eyes wishing all this would just go away, and she could be back in her little quarters on Starbug with the noisy pipes. The sound grew bigger until something was grabbing her. Her hands were being tied up to some sort of wooden figure. She tried to put up a fight, but her attempts had been useless. They began to take her away. Tears dripped from Olivia's eyes that she wasn't even controlling. She kept trying to shout "Let me go!" But their black cloaked hands were over her mouth, nearly choking her. Then she realized they were trying to poison her…  
  
~  
  
"Oh smeg" Olivia noticed she was now indoors, which was a step up from those nasty swamps outside. Her cloths were gone, too. She was now in a ratted white robe. Her hands were tied to a pole that was above her, so she had been resting with her arms up. Slowly Olivia got up. The room was empty. There really wasn't mush she could do from this point, so he had to at least try to be brave. Her face was red and puffy. Maybe she had cried more, who knows.  
  
More black figures came in from a side gate. They both grabbed her arms, and released the cuffs. Olivia was completely silent. She could hear her own loud, fast heartbeat. Forcefully, they dragged her into another room. Here they tied her arms up above her head. The black figures soon left the room.  
  
"Olivia?"  
  
She was almost so startled that she screamed. She looked around in all directions, and saw Arnold tied up at the other side of the room that she wasn't facing. She had to turn her neck in an uncomfortable position to see him. She positioned her body so she was facing him, but her arms were sore from the tug of the ropes. "Oh My god! What are you doing here?" she asked him. He was also wearing the white robe she was wearing.  
  
"They… captured me." His face was pale. He sounded nervous, but who wouldn't be?  
  
"Who were those guys?" She asked him.  
  
"I was going to ask you the same question."  
  
Two woman with almost no cleavage at all walked into the room. Their hair was curly and blonde, and they were dressed like warriors. They walked like they were models while they carried a bucket. The only thought in Olivia's mind was 'this is getting way too weird!'. One of them stopped in front of her, and pinned her back down to the wall with force. She was quite strong for her petite figure. Another did the same with Arnold.  
  
The woman ripped the white robe off of Olivia. Arnold was staring at her while it happened, but unfortunately for him, she wasn't naked. She was still covered in thin white cloth around her breasts and lower body. Olivia stared at Arnold. Instead of being afraid, all she did was stare. Her weak spot was the chest. His was… well, amazing! Muscular, yet not too muscular. And kind of small. What was she doing in this grave time of danger looking at Arnold's chest? She couldn't help herself.  
  
The woman began to cover her with the contents of the bucket. Oil. Strange, almost like getting a massage, but less comfortable. Olivia began to uncontrollably shiver. Her knees were feeling weak. Arnold looked at her, he looked worried. In the very back of his mind he knew this was somehow his fault.  
  
Olivia tried to stay calm. Worrying couldn't exactly be helping. Maybe it was helping her body create an ulcer in her stomach, but it wasn't helping her dilemma. She could hear Arnold talking to the women. She couldn't really hear him, or maybe she just wasn't paying attention. Something about… using sexual ecstasy… Strange. He was obviously pretty scared. Olivia began to listen to them. Maybe the woman would give her some sort of clue what they were doing here and why.  
  
"an oiled body is so much better to conduct the electricity" Eek! That didn't sound good.  
  
"Not the best news, but it could have been worse." Said Arnold. Olivia thought that was a little strange at a time like this, but thinking about him made her calm down a little bit. She wondered why. Why wasn't she about to have a nervous breakdown? Did it have something to do with him?  
  
The women soon finished and left. Olivia looked over at Arnold. He was very pale. Her mind seemed to care more about him then herself. "You ok?" She found herself asking.  
  
"Well no, not exactly." He said in a slightly bitter and annoyed way. There was a way he said it where he mad his voice high pitched that she liked. Olivia just liked everything about his cool voice.  
  
Without noticing or being able to control it she began to shiver harder and tears dripped down her cheeks. She had never been this close to death before. It was very scary for her. What was going on in his mind? Was he experiencing the emotional panic she was experiencing at that moment? She looked into his eyes. Was she going to die today? "Do you think the others will rescue us?" She whispered. She tried to hold back an embarrassing loud sob.  
  
Arnold was silent.  
  
Olivia noticed the look of sorrow on his face. "What's the matter?"  
  
He looked up at her. "What do you think?" He said slowly. He sighed. "I'm about to die, for smegs sake. And you.. this is my fault." He looked down again.  
  
Olivia felt sorry for him, a little. "No, Its not you're fault." She said as sympathetically as the moment would allow.  
  
"Of course it is! Its always my fault. Its luck. I have no luck at all. Nothing ever goes right for me. I minus well die like this." He was obviously feeling very sorry for himself, now too.  
  
The poor thing. She couldn't let him die like this. She had to make him feel better, she probably wouldn't live much longer anyway. She had to try. "I'm sure that's not true."  
  
He looked up at her, not able to answer that.  
  
"I mean, you are a good person, you know?" so far she wasn't doing very well with this. What was he thinking right now? He raised an eyebrow. "You have been really nice and welcoming to me since I got here, and I really appreciate that." He was still silent.  
  
There came a loud, startling growl from underneath them. She was going to have to make this quick. She closed her eyes. She was about to think of something else to say to cheer him up when she felt arms around her. Who was grabbing her? She let out a gasp and opened her eyes. It was Arnold! How had he gotten away? How had she suddenly become untied? Arnold began to run, still carrying her. "What the hell happened?" She shouted. The growling grew louder and more violent as they ran. They saw an air vent. Arnold Lifted Olivia into it, and she grabbed his arms and pulled him up. When they were both inside they closed it up and began to crawl. This was way too easy! They both crawled until they were a safe distance away.  
  
Olivia began to pant. She sat with her arms around her knees all curled up in the corner. "How did you get away?" She said, in between breathes.  
  
"I don't know. One second I was tied up, the next I was free." He explained.  
  
"weird." She wiped her face with her hands. She wasn't crying anymore, but she felt grungy. She felt stupid for being so scared back there. From now on she would just have to take life day by day. What was the point in fear when she was a space adventurer? She couldn't allow it to control her. "Well thanks for saving me."  
  
"um, no problem." He was a little unsure of himself.  
  
They sat in silence for another minute. Olivia spent this time staring at Arnold. He didn't really notice, because he was looking down. Was it possible she was starting to like him… in that way? Nah… she was probably mistaken. It was way too early to tell! That figured that she would go over to this way of thinking. She wanted to hit herself. Whenever she admitted to liking someone (even when she really didn't) things were never the same. She would turn into a total idiot. Take it back, Take it back!!! She begged herself.  
  
Olivia wondered if she had actually ever even had a boyfriend in the past. She couldn't remember having one. She suddenly felt completely helpless and pathetic. "Now, Where the hell is the exit to this Damn vent?" Real mature. Olivia often drove herself completely mad. It was almost like she was schizophrenic, but she knew she was talking to herself in her mind. Her mind would talk to her like it was her mentor telling her what to do, and without it she was a total and complete idiot. Hell, even with it she was sometimes. It really sucked not remembering.  
  
"How should I know?!" he said.  
  
Great, now he probably thought she was a total Bitch.  
  
"Guys, over here!" thank god! It was Dave. Olivia noticed she was still in the white cloth, but Arnold somehow was dressed normally.  
  
"Dave!"  
  
"Smeg, we've been looking all over for you guys! Lets get out of here, this place is unstable!"  
  
She followed him out of the vents. What a day. What a smegging day.  
  
~  
  
"I believe we are on a psi-moon. And in fact the monster is not out there, but in here with us." Kryten whispered.  
  
"So you mean to tell me thing…" Dave made a pointing gesture with his hands "…lives inside his mind?"  
  
"Metaphorically, yes." Nodded Kryten.  
  
"Well that would explain a lot." Said Olivia  
  
"in order to save our selves, we must boost his confidence and destroy the monster, or at least be able to get out of this hell hole." Explained Kryten.  
  
"How the hell are we gonna' do that?" asked The Cat, scrunching his face up like he had just seen a nasty bug, or a wrinkle in his perfect suit.  
  
"We've got to tell him we love 'im." Said Dave.  
  
"precisely. Our lives depend on it." Kryten agreed.  
  
"ready?" asked Dave.  
  
"I'll never be ready."  
  
Olivia stood at the door, watching the others say how much they loved Arnold and all that stuff. She was not able to join in. She watched from a far as the 4 joined in a group hug. It was obvious this wasn't her scene, They probably didn't even want her here. None of them were stopping and wondering 'hey, where's Olivia?'  
  
Oh well, what exactly could she expect? She had just met these guys yesterday, but from the beginning she had felt like she belonged, that is, after the shock of actually being here wore off. Maybe she was mistaken.  
  
  
  
A/N: Hmmm, I just took Lauren Greenleaf's Mary Sue test. Olivia got a 21. Is that bad? Do you guys not like these kind of stories??? Well, all reviews are appreciated! 


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3  
  
A/N: This chapter is no longer rated PG-13. The dream she has is rated R, be aware of that. It deals with rape.  
  
  
  
Olivia laid on her bunk, The damn pipes wouldn't shut up. They were making her go insane with their "stralucal" and "rutut" and "hununga"! "SHUT UP!" she screamed, pulling pillows over her ears. They didn't help her any. Whose idea was it to give her the room with the kamikaze pipes? They would kill her from the insanity. They hadn't done this the night before, what was with them? It was like nothing made sense here. It was useless trying to get any sleep in this room, Olivia grabbed her pillow and blanket and made her way out of the room. Starbug was about the size of her house, nice and cozy. Olivia half sleepwalked to starbug's main room and laid her pillow on the table and rested her chin. She stared off into space.  
  
"Hi." Dave was standing in the doorway, but Olivia didn't really seem to notice right away.  
  
After the few moments that it took to comprehend the situation, Olivia replied with a casual, yet tired "Hi." It had been a really long day. It was amazing how worn out you could get when you spent a few hours of the day close to death. Why hadn't terrible things happened to her? It was like something was looking over her the entire time. She didn't get as much as a paper cut. She had lost her clothes, because they had never appeared on her again, but what difference did that make? She looked pretty sexy in the white cloth.  
  
"ye' know, I really should get around to fixing those pipes." Said Lister.  
  
You think? Olivia was in a bitchy mood. She got that way sometimes, but she covered it up well enough.  
  
Arnold walked into the room in the middle of a huge yawn, not quite realizing Olivia was in there.  
  
"I can't get a fucking wink of sleep in that room. I swear those pipes are trying to kill me, but they won't get to me, I tell ya'!" Olivia mumbled, rather insanely.  
  
"You know, ma'am, the last Time Mister Lister spent the night in that room, he tried to choke himself to death with an onion sandwich." Olivia turned around to see Kryten with a vacuum attached to his groinal attachment. "uh, just had to do some late night dusting, Mister Lister, will you please come and help me… over there?" Kryten made a gesture pointing at the door.  
  
"But you just dusted there yesterday, man."  
  
"Mister Lister, its very important. My scans pick up massive amounts of dust in the area!" Kryten sounded worried.  
  
"Alright man, I'm comin'." Finally Lister followed Kryten out of the room.  
  
"I'll fix those pipes for you. After all, I was a second technician." Arnold stated.  
  
"Oh, so that's what you are. I was wondering. What was with the BSc SSc, then?"  
  
Arnold looked down. "Well," She sensed tension in his voice. "I don't think that's important."  
  
"Well it must be to you if you would say it when you introduced yourself." Olivia knew she was teasing him.  
  
Arnold sighed. "Fine, you want to know? I'll tell you. Bronze swimming certificate, silver swimming certificate." He said sadly.  
  
"You swim?" She asked him.  
  
"Well no…"  
  
Olivia didn't make eye contact with him. He was so cute, in a pathetic, lovable way. She knew that was mean, but it seemed to work so well for him. She smiled at him. "Well, I would really appreciate you fixing the pipes for me."  
  
"Uh… yes.. I'll go… do that now." He said, then made a quick exit. He was obviously blushing.  
  
Olivia's eyelids became heavy. She wanted to wait until Arnold was finished fixing them before she went to sleep, but who knew how long that would be. She let out a huge yawn that sounded like a bad actress in a play. In a fairly uncomfortable position, she shut her eyes, and eventually dozed off. As she laid there with her chin on her pillow, she dreamt.  
  
~  
  
Olivia was walking along late at night in the city. She wasn't exactly sure where she was in the dream. Most of the lights in the apartment buildings were off. The moon shined very brightly while she strolled along with the small late night crowd. She began to walk down a street that looked much dirtier. It barely had anyone on it. Still, in her dream, this street felt very familiar. She walked along, and heard a soft noise. It was as if someone was following her. She began to pick up the pace. She heard it again. "Who's there?" She heard herself shout. It was almost like she was watching this happening, and not really living it. There was no answer. All she could hear was her own heavy breathing, and her heat beat. She looked around. There was nobody around her. No one was even on this street anymore. She was about to keep walking when someone grabbed her wrist. She was so startled that she let out a piercing scream. She felt a hand over her mouth, and then she was tugged into an alleyway. Her heart was beating so fast. Who was doing this to her, and what were they doing? She felt her clothes being pulled off. Now she knew what was going on. She saw the shine of a blade a few inches away from her face, and knew she had to keep quiet or her life would end.  
  
The man raping her was very drunk. She could smell the alcohol on his breath. He was mostly silent except for a few low pitched moans.  
  
Before she knew it, he was inside her. A painful sensation spread through her entire body. She didn't make a sound, although her lungs were almost begging her to scream out in shock. The man, whoever he was, had pinned her down and she could not move at all. It seemed like forever before he finally came out of her. She opened her eyes. They had been closed for awhile. She started at the man who had done that to her in shock. She knew him. She would always remember that face.  
  
~  
  
She suddenly lifted her head from the table and let out another piercing scream, much like the one in the dream. She was breathing hard. Her heart was racing. Why had she dreamt that? Suddenly it hit her. That wasn't just a dream, that was… a memory. Another one! That face, she had seen it before. It had popped up in her mind a few times, often when she was scared. She had seen it while she was on the psi-moon.  
  
Dave, Arnold, and Kryten came rushing into the room. Dave was panting. "What's goin' on?"  
  
Olivia sat still where she was. Sweat dripping down her face. She looked like she had just seen a ghost. In a way, she had.  
  
"I… I'm starting to get my memory back." Her entire body became ice cold. Her eyes rolled to the back of her head, and she passed out, dramatically falling off her chair onto the floor.  
  
~  
  
"Olivia!" Olivia could hear Arnold shouting to her, but didn't understand what was going on. She laid there with her eyes shut. It felt like she was dreaming. "Olivia!!!!!"  
  
Finally she opened her eyes. She let out a tired moan that probably was supposed to be words. Even she didn't know what she was saying.  
  
"She's awake!" She heard Arnold shout. "Olivia, what happened?" Arnold really did sound worried.  
  
"That face…" she whispered. It was still flashing through her mind, If this was memory, then she didn't want to remember anything, She would almost rather know nothing about herself. This was like a horror movie. Her head hurt really bad. She hadn't noticed until now. She placed her hands on it. "oww" she softly moaned. Olivia felt something touch the side of her neck. She looked in its direction and noticed what looked like a gun, or maybe an electric nail driver. She let out a hoarse shriek.  
  
"Don't worry, ma'am, I'm just injecting you with pain killers." Said Kryten. He no longer sounded the least bit sensitive. In fact, he sounded annoyed. Olivia got up and looked around. Everyone, except the Cat, was standing around her. Arnold and Dave looked worried. Now Olivia was exhausted, but how could she sleep after having a dream like that? She rested her head in her hands. She had a lot of thinking to do. She was actually beginning to remember things.  
  
No one really knew what to say. Kryten kept a close eye on Dave. Olivia finally noticed the three of them staring at her.  
  
Finally the silence was broken by the soft voice of Arnold saying "um… I fixed the pipes for you."  
  
"Thanks." She said, as if nothing had happened. Against the odds, she smiled at him and strolled out of the room with a slight spring in her step. She collapsed on her bunk in her quarters and stared at the ceiling. She could not let herself fall asleep, no matter how tired she got.  
  
Even though she had promised herself she wouldn't, she did. She fell straight asleep into a deep, dreamless sleep, thank god! Olivia stirred long after she woke up. She was like a vegetable. She stayed in bed until dinner time. She only left to eat, because she was starving. She snuck the food out of the kitchen when no one was inside and took it back to her quarters. All she managed to get was a miniature box of cereal. She ate it dry while she laid on top of the covers. Memories of the dream were haunting her. There was a knock at the door. She was silent for a few moments. "Olivia?" It was Arnold.  
  
"Come in." She said softly.  
  
The door opened, making an annoying mechanical squeak. "Can I get you anything?" how sweet.  
  
"No thank you." He made herself smile. She ate another handful of dry cereal.  
  
"How come you fainted yesterday?" He seemed to be carefully selecting his words.  
  
"long story." She said softly. She wiped her mouth for cereal crumbs.  
  
"So, you're getting your memory back?" he asked, pausing a few times in the sentence.  
  
"yeah." She replied softly. She noticed she was still again. Staring into space. It was kind of scary. She just stared, and didn't look away at all.  
  
"would you like to… talk about it?" a bead of sweat dripped down Arnold's face. Was he really that nervous to talk to her?  
  
Olivia reached over and dried it with her sleeve. "I'd rather not."  
  
She heard footsteps. She finally stopped staring into space, and looked over at the door. It was Dave. Dave noticed Arnold. "How long have you been in here, Rimmer?"  
  
"Hey. You're not my mum, Listy!" He suddenly didn't sound so sweet and gentle. Olivia wished they would get along, and not just be competing with each other for her. She wasn't a robot or something. If she wanted one of them, it was her decision, and no one else but hers. She wasn't even sure if that was what she wanted. Wasn't it possible for them just to all be friends? Well, probably not.  
  
"So, how ya' feelin'? I mean, you had quite a fall yesterday." Said Dave, sounding concerned.  
  
Olivia continued to stare into space, wishing they would leave her alone. She shut her eyes, but the moment she did the face from in the dream flashed in front of her and she instantly opened them again. "I'm ok." She lied. The fact was she was having a nervous breakdown.  
  
"So, any idea why you did? You said something on the lines of… 'that face'." Dave repeated.  
  
"yeah…" she mumbled. She really didn't want to talk about it. Who knew what they would think. They would probably think she was mad.  
  
They both stared at her. Arnold had his nostrils flared. Olivia pulled the covers over herself and grabbed her knees. 'No, you can't do this,. You can't be like a little girl, you have to face your fears like…a man!!" chanted the voices in her head. 'a man?'  
  
Olivia shut her eyes again, not realizing that Kryten had walked in the room, and one of his eyes had popped out of his socket at the sight of Dave sitting next to Olivia's bunk staring with eyes of lust. It was too much to bear for the mechanoid. Thoughts of rejection would fill his mechanical mind.  
  
Dave noticed Kryten at the door and sighed. He helped Kryten find his eye that had rolled under the laundry bin. "I'll catch ye' later." He said, sounding quite disappointed. Before he left, he mouthed the words "I'll be back", and then he walked silently out the door followed by Kryten.  
  
Olivia opened her eyes again. Arnold stared in the opposite direction at the door where they had left. They were alone again. "I uh… overheard them talking. Kryten thinks your taking Lister away from him, or something."  
  
"oh" what else was there to say? She knew something was up with Kryten. He really didn't seem to like her. He used to, but for some reason he stopped. Strange.  
  
Arnold looked over at the doorway again. "I'd… better be going." He made another quick exit. Olivia wished she could have been more welcoming to him, but she really didn't want anyone around right now.  
  
She just lay there, just thinking about how she wished she could have some music so it wasn't so damn silent. She still didn't have everything figured out. Did they still use CDs or did they use MP3s now or what the hell? Would she sound like a total loser if she asked?  
  
It was so strange to her that in the dream she could actually feel the pain. It had still hurt when she woke up. Was that normal? Why the hell was she thinking about the dream again? Why was it that anytime you wanted to remember anything you never could never, and when you wanted to forget, you always thought about it. She lay there for a long time, but she didn't know how long until Dave finally did come back. "hey"  
  
"Hi" she mumbled.  
  
He sat down on the bunk next to her. She stared up at him. He was smiling a cheeky grin. "You sure yer' alright? Even I'm not usually out for an entire day."  
  
Maybe she should tell him. It would probably make her feel better to get it off her chest. "I got some of my memory back in my dream." She explained.  
  
"So what didga' dream about?" He asked, getting a little closer to her.  
  
She paused for a moment. "I'm not really sure where I was. It was in some city somewhere. A big city. It was late and I was walking along…" Olivia stopped.  
  
"yeah?"  
  
"well…" She looked up at him, and he got even closer to her. "I was pulled off the street…"  
  
"By who?" he seemed a little startled at that, and backed up a few inches.  
  
"Not really sure, but I'll never forget that face. I see it sometimes. In my mind sometimes. It kind of represents fear for me, but I never knew why."  
  
Dave nodded, and began to get closer again.  
  
Olivia ignored this and continued. "he… had a knife. He pulled my clothes off and… you know." Her voice got softer. Why was she telling him this?  
  
"My god!" he was shocked by what was just said. Instead of backing away, this time he came closer. Olivia debated whether or not to push him away, and decided not to, What exactly did he have in mind. "It hurt, too. Even though it was a dream."  
  
"you mean physically hurt?"  
  
Olivia nodded. Before she knew it, Dave had pulled her into a hug. She didn't resist, she just rested her head on his shoulder. She hadn't been hugged in a long time, and it felt close to have someone close to her.  
  
Slowly, Dave pulled his T-shirt off himself. Olivia was surprised, but allowed him to. His skin was smooth and hairless. She rubbed her hands against his shoulders. She couldn't resist this anymore. She kneeled forward in the bunk, and he scooted closer to her. He had obviously been waiting a long time for this. He proceeded with caution. Gently he pulled her towards him, giving her time to resist. She did not. He got close enough, and kissed her patiently. Olivia was nearly shocked that she had allowed him to do this. She had millions of butterflies in her stomach, She could never remember ever doing this with anyone. It was intense.  
  
Something didn't quite seem right about it, She hadn't felt anything when they kissed, she just felt nervous and uncomfortable. She suddenly let go of him. They both backed away from each other. Slowly Olivia put her hair behind her ears. She wasn't sure what to do now. Dave put his arms around her neck again. She allowed him too. He pulled her closer and kissed her again. Harder this time. She shut her eyes and tried to feel the passion, the emotion. Nothing. She didn't want to stop now. Gently, Dave pushed her so she was laying flat on the bad, and he sat above her. Olivia thought maybe she should stop this now. She wondered if he could feel anything. She didn't believe in meaningless sex!  
  
Just at that moment, almost perfect timing, Kryten barged in the door. His eyes nearly popped out of his head, Instead of that, his head literally exploded. Olivia couldn't believe it. She stared at the sparking, headless mechanoid. They instantly pulled away from each other. Arnold Came rushing in the room, but stood in the doorway after seeing Kryten. He looked and saw Dave with his shirt off and Olivia on the bunk. He stood there a few moments and observed the two of them. Dave with his shirt off. Not a good sign. He immediately rushed out, looking hurt. She suddenly felt terrible. If only she could explain to him that she hadn't felt anything!  
  
Dave looked a little hurt himself. He pulled his T-shirt over his head. Olivia wondered why she had let that happen. Even after they kissed, and she knew there was something wrong. She had let him go on. What if Kryten hadn't come in, would they have done it? Dave looked at her apologetically. Neither of them said anything. Olivia got up, and without saying anything, left the room. She looked around for Arnold. For some reason he was the only one she wanted to be with right now. 


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4  
  
A/N: Some of the dialogue is copied from the scripts. Spoilers for Thanks For The Memory and Polymorph II Emohawk.  
  
  
  
It didn't seem like on a small ship like this that there would be that many hiding places. Olivia searched each room in Starbug. Where could he be? This was ridicules. Was he hiding from her? She gave up and sat down in a chair that happened to be in the middle of the room she was in. Some sort of storage room. It was filled with large crates. At least she could be alone in here.  
  
She began going through the crates. It was a bad habit, but she liked going through other peoples stuff, it was fun. Olivia pulled out a video tape. Strange, 3 million years in the future and they still used video tapes. On the tape was written "surveillance tapes/blackmail" Blackmail? What sort of blackmail? Now all she needed was a place to play the tape. She knew there was a monitor in the main room, whatever it was called. She quietly rushed out of the room hiding the tape. No one was around. Dave was probably trying to fix Kryten.  
  
Finally Olivia spotted a small monitor. It was at one of the desks used for the radar, but it had a slot for videos. Score! She popped the video in and put her feet up. If only she had some popcorn.  
  
The face of a middle aged man appeared on the screen. It was just a head suspended in the middle of the screen, no body or nothing. "I don't know whether anyone will ever find this, but if they do and it's you Dave, or you Arnold, don't ever play it. Some things are best left buried."  
  
Curious. Maybe she shouldn't be watching this. Oh well, she was bored, and she would never get to know the crew if she didn't see who they really were, and not who they were pretending to be around her. The tape soon showed Dave and Arnold in a similar looking sleeping quarters to the one here on Starbug, but it looked more "lived in". There were more posters on the wall, more cloths thrown on the floor. The tape must have been from on Red Dwarf. She had wondered what it looked like.  
  
"What time is it?" Asked Lister on the tape.  
  
Arnold began to crawl over to the clock, obviously drunk, Either that or really tired, but it seemed more like drunk. Arnold stared at the clock for a few moments. Olivia moved closer to the screen. "Saturday" Said Arnold. Olivia smiled.  
  
"Is that the best you can do?" Asked Dave. Olivia wondered if this was going anywhere. All it showed was them both drunk. Olivia put on the Fast forward and watched Arnold eat a nasty-looking sandwich. She stopped it.  
  
"I feel like I'm having a baby!" Said Arnold with a mouth full of sandwich.  
  
"Its good innit?" Dave replied. Olivia began to recline in the chair. This was kind of interesting. She turned the sound down just to make sure no one would know she was watching this. There had to be something on the tape that would interest her.  
  
"It's incredible. Where did you get the recipe from?"  
  
"I'm not sure, I think it was a book on biological warfare.." Well, so far she had the recipe for an incredible tasting nasty-looking sandwich, but that wasn't exactly her idea of blackmail. Olivia pressed the fast forward again for a few moments then stopped it and watched more.  
  
"You're wrong, right? All your ingredients are wrong. You're slobby, you've got no sense of discipline, you're the only man ever to get his money back from the Odour Eater people, but people like you, don't you see? That's why you're a fried egg, chili, chutney sandwich. Now me ... now me ... All the ingredients are right. I'm disciplined, I'm organized, I'm dedicated to my career, I've always got a pen. Result? Total smeghead despised by everyone except the ship's parrot. And that's only because we haven't got one. Why? Why is that?" Hmmm, now we were getting somewhere. Did people really feel that way about Arnold. Maybe he could be slightly annoying, but she would never describe him in that way. He had been very sweet to her, so he was shy, and had his faults. Olivia liked having friends with faults so they didn't seem too perfect.  
  
"I suppose that's because you are a total smeghead." Well that was mean and uncalled for, oh well. They were men.  
  
"But I'm not! I'm a nice guy, I'm a goodie!" A goodie?  
  
"No, Rimmer, see the trouble is you've never got time for people. You're too busy trying to be successful. It's all midnight revision and up, up, up the ziggurat lickety spit." Then Dave imitated the salute Rimmer often did. The salute was kind of cute, but not something that should be taken seriously in her mind. She caught herself giggling. Poor Arnold.  
  
"I have got time for people. What about all the time I spent licking up to Todhunter even though he was a total gimp? And Captain Hollister? Mr. fat bastard 2044. I went out of my way to simp around him." Todhunter? That name sounded strangely familiar…  
  
"Rimmer, that's not having time for people." Said Dave. Olivia put on the fast forward one last time through a little argument and stopped it.  
  
"Do you know how many times in my entire life I made love?" Said Arnold. Oh my goodness, no wonder this was blackmail. Olivia took her feet down and put her head closer to the screen, she was a bit curious herself.  
  
"No, and I don't want to know." Dave said Forcefully.  
  
"I want to tell you" Said Arnold, who was obviously still very drunk. Olivia got even closer to the screen.  
  
"I don't want to know!" Yes you do!! Olivia thought at the TV screen.  
  
"no, but I want to tell you." Said Arnold. "I want to tell you. I'm going... I am going to tell you. I want to tell you." Olivia smiled at the TV screen.  
  
"Listen! Listen, Rimmer. If you tell me, right, you'll wake up in the morning. You'll have your hang over and you'll feel like death and you'll walk up to the mirror and you'll look in the mirror and you'll remember and you'll go, "Ahahahahah!!"." Dave stuck his fist in his mouth to imitate. "See it's not worth it, I don't want to know and believe me you don't want to tell me." He had a point.  
  
"Once" Shouted Arnold, holding up one finger. Olivia gasped, then remembered she had to be quiet. Once? Only once? But he was… sexy! Once?  
  
"Smeg" Said Dave.  
  
"One Time only." He almost seemed proud of that.  
  
Dave covered his ears. "don't tell me this, Rimmer. You'll want to kill yourself in the morning." Yes, this certainly was blackmail, but Olivia would never bring it up. It was good to know these things.  
  
"Yvonne McGruder. A single, brief liason with the ship's female boxing champion. March the sixteenth, seven thirty one PM to seven forty three PM." Olivia quickly tried to do the math in her head while wondering if she had ever had sex. Nothing came to mind.  
  
"please" Said Dave.  
  
"Twelve minutes" Said Arnold right as Olivia came up with the same answer in her head.  
  
Dave was beginning to lose his patience. "Please!"  
  
"And that includes the time it took to eat the pizza." Poor thing.  
  
"please, Rimmer!"  
  
"In my entire life I have spent more time being sick!" Awww, poor thing. He wasn't the only one.  
  
"So, I mean, You just haven't met the right girl yet."  
  
"No, I haven't, Lister. I haven't met the right girl" Arnold said, overly sarcastic "and some just might say, given the fact that the human race no longer exists, coupled with the fact that I have passed on, some just might say that I'm leaving it a little bit on the late side." Olivia suddenly noticed the 'H' on his head. What the hell? Well he was wrong about one thing, there still was one girl in the universe, her. And this girl was interested.  
  
"Well you made a decision, didn't you? I mean you chose your careen over your personal life."  
  
"Yes, I did. I did, didn't I? Pearls of wisdom there from Mr. fried egg, chili, chutney, sandwich face." Said Arnold sarcastically. Suddenly he became very serious. "Well, I'll tell you something, Lister. I'll tell you something. I'd trade it all in-- all of it. My pips, my long-service medals, my swimming certificates, my telescope, my shoe trees. I'd trade everything in to be loved, and to have been loved." A tear dripped down Olivia's face. She never knew it meant so much to him. No wonder he had gotten so upset at seeing her and Dave together. Sure, they would use this as blackmail to each other, but this was serious.  
  
Arnold began to sing in a high pitched voice in a pathetic way while Olivia cried. "I'm a little lamb, lost in the wood, maybe I could, really be good, with someone to watch over me." Arnold went to lie down on the bunk and whimpered. Olivia couldn't control her tears. They streamed down her face. She never got this emotional when she saw movies. This just seemed to hit her harder because it was real. "That was going to be our song. But I never found anyone to share it with. So now it's just MY song." That didn't exactly help her stop crying. Arnold continued to whimper until Dave got up and left.  
  
Olivia suddenly heard footsteps and immediately pulled the tape out of the machine and looked for a hiding spot. The only spot available was in some drawer. She would move it later so no one would ever find it.  
  
Olivia furiously wiped her tears on her sleeve, but that only made her face look more puffy and red.  
  
"Did you sleep with him?" It was Arnold. Olivia didn't turn around or he would see her crying. He was right behind her.  
  
"No" She answered. She took a deep breath. Finally the sobs were out of her system. She wondered how convincing that sounded. She had hesitated before replying. He would never believe her, even though it was the truth. She just didn't have enough nerve to tell Dave to stop, or push him away. It was probably still her fault, because she didn't make it clear that wasn't what she wanted to happen.  
  
"Right" He mumbled. She couldn't tell if it was meant to be sarcastic or not. There would be time to figure things out later. Olivia walked back into her quarters, and found it empty. Good. Olivia toppled over on her bunk, the covers were still a mess. She didn't care, it was warm in there, she just fell right on top of them and instantly fell asleep without a second thought weather or not that was a good idea. Once again she dreamt. It wasn't scary this time, just incredibly confusing.  
  
~  
  
She found herself in a office painted white. She was sitting on an examination table. Two men in white coats were standing over her. Nothing seemed wrong with her. She felt no pain. She was able to lift her head and examine her body. It didn't look any different than it did now.  
  
"Miss Angeledis, you are aware of the dangers of what you are doing?" Said one of the men in the white lab coat.  
  
"Yes sir." She replied, blankly.  
  
"You are aware that if anything is to go wrong that you are signing your life away to Wilson-Manchester incorporated?"  
  
"yes sir."  
  
"last chance to back out." He said casually.  
  
"No sir." She said.  
  
The man nodded and looked at the other. "Lower the stasis field." He looked back at Angela. "Comfortable?"  
  
"Very" She said. Little did they know she had tampered with the controls. She would not be in here for twenty minutes, she would be in here much longer then that… eventually. Stasis was the only escape… stasis was the only escape… the only escape…  
  
~  
  
"the only escape" She mumbled, while she stirred in her bunk. Her eyes flickered open. She rolled over and looked at the clock. It was 8. her head was spinning. Another memory. What did that mean? Stasis was the only escape? Escape from what?  
  
She looked up to see Kryten looking up at her in a very curious way.  
  
"Hi" She said to him.  
  
"Don't think you can fool me. I saw what you were doing." He said.  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"You know what I mean, I saw you kissing mister Lister! Well you can't have him! He's mine! You can't take him away from me."  
  
"Honestly, Kryten. You sound like some selfish, brown-nosing schoolgirl!" Olivia shouted in a bitchy way.  
  
Kryten looked offended. "Yeah? See if I ever iron your cloths again!"  
  
"Oh big loss. By the way, I thought you said you liked finally being appreciated. You seemed to like me back then when I first got here."  
  
"Well… I changed my mind, Now if you'll excuse me I have laundry to fold." The moment he turned his back Olivia gave him the finger and imitated the look on his face he gave her. Right as she did so, Arnold walked in the door. He stared at her. She immediately put her finger down and began to laugh. It was funny. She wasn't quite sure if Arnold understood the hilarity of it.  
  
"Brown-nosing school girl, eh? Finally someone agrees with me. That mechanoid has been trying to take over since day one."  
  
"Oh yeah, well see if I ever iron your cloths again." She imitated, while giggling. Arnold too cracked a smile.  
  
"He just doesn't know how to treat a lady." He explained.  
  
"Really? I hadn't noticed." She said in a joking, sarcastic way.  
  
They both noticed they were laughing and smiling and stopped. Olivia remembered how mad he must have been at her, and Arnold remembered what he had witnessed the night before.  
  
"I just want you to know I'm not interested in Dave."  
  
"You certainly seemed interested last night."  
  
"Yes, maybe. It just wasn't right. I mean it. I just didn't have the nerve to get him to stop." Arnold looked relieved. He also looked confused. She looked into his brownish-hazel eyes. He looked down at her like a puppy. Maybe she would have done something right then and there if it wasn't for the interruption.  
  
"Guys, come quick!" Shouted Dave.  
  
Both of them got up and ran for the cockpit where Dave was shouting from. He, Cat and Kryten were all sitting in there.  
  
"We seem to be detecting a massive power surge in the area. I suggest you duck and hold on for dear life, sirs!"  
  
Olivia noticed he didn't mention her. She gave him another evil eye and strapped herself in. "What is it?" She asked.  
  
"Not sure" Said Kryten, with that look again.  
  
"Hey, wait! Its showing up on the scans. Some kind of vessel." Said Dave  
  
It was going to be one of those days, wasn't it?  
  
"Its too close!" Said Arnold, sounding worried. Olivia meanwhile had no idea what to do, since she never had to deal with problems like this. Her biggest problem was what to wear to a formal dress party when all her nice cloths were at the drycleaner. Well, that was the only one she could remember, but something told her she had had a few bigger problems.  
  
"That power surge'll toss us around like we're a bead of sweat in an aerobic teacher's buttock cleavage." Said Dave. There was something about him, he could come up with funny things to say even in the worst times of danger.  
  
"Hang on, here it comes" Warned Kryten.  
  
Olivia grabbed on to the desk in front of her and shut her eyes, expecting the worse. The entire cockpit shook, combine with the loud startling sound of explosions.  
  
"Damage report?" Asked Arnold.  
  
"Superficial, navicomps down, slight rupture in fuel pipe 9... and somehow the pilot's headset has got jammed on the country and western channel." Replied the Cat. A shiver rattled Olivia's entire body.  
  
"Second wave coming!" Kryten warned.  
  
Olivia held on to the desk with a death grip as the entire ship rattled yet again. She witnessed a brilliant flash.  
  
"What's he thinking of, warping that close to another vessel." Kryten looked out the front window and shouted "DAMN SPACE HOG!"  
  
Arnold raised an eyebrow and looked at the scans closely. "My god, that's a Space Corp external enforcement vehicle." He exclaimed.  
  
"What's that?" Olivia asked, just to prove she wasn't completely out of it.  
  
"The space filth!" Said Dave.  
  
"A computer controlled enforcement probe." Kryten explained.  
  
"Incoming" Said The Cat.  
  
Then, they could hear the sound of loud computerized voice, but couldn't understand what it was saying at all. Property corps space removing, and equipment corps space damaging, ships corps space of series a looting with charged formerly are you."  
  
"What does that mean?" asked Olivia.  
  
"The materialization must have scrambled it's voice unit. It's making about as much sense as a Japanese VCR instruction manual." Said Kryten.  
  
The computer voice came on again. "Plead do you how?"  
  
"plead do you how?" Asked Olivia.  
  
"Its in reverse, how do you plead?" Said Arnold.  
  
"No, if it were in reverse it would be saying how you do plead…"  
  
Arnold flashed her a shut-up-during-my-big-moment look.  
  
"How do we plead to what?" Asked The Cat.  
  
"I think its charging us for looting space corps derelicts." Explained Kryten.  
  
"But we don't loot them. We just hack our way in and take what we need!" Shouted Dave.  
  
"If we go to trial I demand separate lawyers!" Said Arnold.  
  
"What's the penalty for this? If it means wearing outfits with arrows on, I'm committing suicide." Said The Cat.  
  
"Er, no sir. It means wearing outfits with wings and haloes on, sir. The penalty is execution." Said Kryten. Well that sure warmed Olivia's heart up. What better news could there be then that? Smeg smeg smeg.  
  
"Why are they so harsh? Execution? So what if you guys did steal some stuff, were 3 million years in the future, right? No one's really gonna' miss it." Said Olivia.  
  
"it's frontier law ma'am, and we are the equivalent of horse rustlers. Severe sentencing is the only way of maintaining law and order, don't expect it to show us any mercy."  
  
"What do we do?" Asked Arnold.  
  
"Lets face it sir, were as guilty as the man behind the grassy knoll." Said Kryten. Once again, smeg smeg smeg!!! Sure, Olivia wasn't guilty, she had only been here a few days, but the idea of her new crew mates being killed and her being completely alone where nothing made sense didn't exactly appeal to her.  
  
"Suggest I take the rap for everyone sir. You can say I held you at gunpoint and forced you to do my evil bidding." Said Kryten. That sounded like a good idea to her.  
  
"For god's sake, Kryten, we can't let you do that!" Said Arnold  
  
"Really" he sounded surprised.  
  
"Dream in, metal trash. Get your hands in the air and step into that searchlight." Olivia laughed to herself.  
  
"Minute one have you" Said the metallic voice again.  
  
"No choices then, lets leg it. Cat, plot a course for scarper city." Said Dave.  
  
"Sir, a class A enforcement orb can easily outrun us." Warned Kryten.  
  
"Kryten, the Eastbourne zimmer-frame relay team can easily outrun us. It's not about speed, it's about wit, brains and cunning." Said Dave  
  
"Hmm, I was hoping it wouldn't come to that, sir."  
  
"Take a look at your screens. We're 7 clicks away from the Gelf Zone. It wouldn't follow us in there in a gazillion years." Gelf zone?  
  
"No, because Gelfs are untrustworthy scavengers with no regard for life, law or property." Said Rimmer. Oh.  
  
"Right, so we'll be safe." Said Dave.  
  
"Lister, you've heard the stories! They skin human beings alive and turn them into bean bags! Unless you want a triple buttocked Gelf sitting on your face for the rest of eternity and probing your crevices for lost forks and biros, I suggest you rethink." Things were just looking worse and worse.  
  
"Before anyone says anything just let me ask, am I going to die today?" Asked Olivia. No one answered that.  
  
"Sir, it's the lesser of the evils. In the absence of a sane plan, I suggest we follow Mister Lister's." Said Kryten. Olivia had no idea what anyone was talking about, all she really was getting from this conversation was that they were in great danger, and she was probably going to die. Olivia hid under the desk and tried to just tune it all out. Olivia heard a few huge blasts, and could tell Dave and the others were saying something, but she couldn't here them. The voices in her head were screaming too loud. A few more explosions were to be heard, as she went into fetal position. This wasn't good. The explosions grew worse, and the shouting became louder and more frightening. The next thing that happened was there was a splash, and a huge jolt. The ship stopped and Olivia got up. "Are we safe now?" She asked.  
  
"We landed on the Gelf planet." Said Dave.  
  
Olivia followed Kryten and Dave into starbugs midsection. Arnold was holding a crate.  
  
"Look at it. All our possessions, all our valuables. Between fire, flood and impact damage we've lost damn near everything." He said. Arnold turned back into the cockpit.  
  
"Well, at least Mister Lister's guitar survived intact." Said Kryten.  
  
The Cat walked over and grabbed the guitar, and smashed it against a crate, breaking it.  
  
"Not even Mister Lister's guitar survived intact." He corrected himself. Olivia sighed. At least she was still alive. The floor had flooded and she was ankle deep in mud. Really cold mud, too.  
  
"It's waist high down there, but at least I managed to get the pumps working. 3 hours and we'll be dry." Said Dave, walking in wearing a waste high wader.  
  
"Its getting wet in here, too." She said, splashing her muddy feet.  
  
"Thrusters, boosters, reheat, auto-repair can take care of everything, except for the oxygenation unit which is totally kaputzki." Said Arnold, walking in.  
  
"That can't be good." Said Olivia.  
  
"So you're tellin' me we can take off but we can't breath?" Asked Lister.  
  
"Now it really doesn't sound good." Said Olivia.  
  
"Can we repair it?" Asked The Cat  
  
"It's a black and charred mess, worse than one of Lister's drunken fry- ups." Exclaimed Arnold. They were beginning to lose hope, and that sure as hell wasn't good!  
  
"Maybe we can trade with the Gelfs" Suggested Lister. He obviously had lost all hope by now. The Gelfs were obviously deranged killing machines or something. Trade with a deranged killing machine?  
  
"Trade? You can't be serious!" Arnold seemed to agree with her.  
  
"It does appear to be our only option sir." Said Kryten. Smeg.  
  
"Alright, lets go." Said Dave. The five of them made there way out of Starbug into the tall grass. Olivia followed behind Arnold and in front of the Cat. An arrow was suddenly fired at them and hits the chest Kryten is holding. He picked it up and began to examine it.  
  
"Give me the arrow! It could tell us a whole heckuva lot about who we're dealing with here." Said The Cat, taking it.  
  
"Anything?" Asked Olivia.  
  
"Yep! This sure came from a bow alright..... I was expecting to get a lot more than that." He said. Olivia shook her head. It really *was* one of those days.  
  
Kryten picked up the Arrow and began to look at it some more."Hmmm, as we anticipated, they  
  
are the Kinitawowi. Good. I have studied the dialect, they are one of the friendlier Kinteteacch, or tribes."  
  
"friendly? They just tried to kill us with an arrow!" Exclaimed Olivia. The others all shushed her.  
  
"No ma'am, it is a great hcanau or honour to be greeted in this manner. They would have killed us the instant we landed if they had taken exception to us. That's a very good sign."  
  
"What? It's a good sigh they haven't killed us?" Asked Arnold.  
  
Kryten nodded. "Absolutely sir, with the Kinitawowi not skinning you alive the moment they set eyes on you is one of their warmest greetings. We are indeed hcan hcasset or blessed."  
  
"great" mumbled Olivia. She knew she was being a real downer to everyone, and they probably felt like just leaving her there because of it. But this wasn't exactly fun. She looked up at Arnold and remembered the video tape she had watched. All he wanted was to be loved. Loved, wasn't that what any sane person would want? Olivia wanted to be loved. She wasn't sure if she ever had been. What a pathetic life, there must have been something wrong with her! She was still having a lot of trouble remembering who she was. She just couldn't remember, and that really frustrated her!  
  
"And Kryten, you are indeed a hcachum babow, or smart alec metal git." Olivia giggled to herself. She felt the same way. Kryten was really getting to her. She didn't take rejection very well, even though she pretended to. She hated being around people who didn't like her.  
  
Olivia crept through the bushes closely behind Arnold for more then one reason. She couldn't help remembering what Kryten had said before, "In the absence of a sane plan…" this was completely insane! Well it was either this or die of suffocation, and that didn't exactly sound appealing to her. Still, it was probably better then the hideous ways of torturing them the Gelfs had in mind.  
  
A few campfires were to be seen ahead. They were approaching a village. As they got closer she could see what looked like giant gorilla people. "Are those the Gelfs?" She asked. She didn't get an answer. Arnold looked back at her. The color was drained from his face, and his eyes were wide open like a coffee drinker at midnight. She could once again feel her affection for him. 'hmmm once again I am in great danger, and all I can think of is him. Maybe really am in love.' Said the voices inside her head.  
  
Her knees felt like Jell-o as they made their way closer to the village. The Gelfs had realized there now. They all made their way into the Gelf village. They were quite hideous creatures, but it probably wasn't the best of ideas to say that out loud, and insult them. They did seem to be quite intelligent. Like early humans. It was almost sad to see. They would probably end up evolving, and becoming more intelligent and eventually polluting their planet like humans did, and all sorts of other things.  
  
Olivia watched as Dave and the others tried giving one of the Gelfs jeans and a cigar. It seemed pleased with that. What made them think these guys had an O/G unit? Their lives didn't seem to be in that great of danger, because they were all being invited in the hut. They would either be stripped, buttered and dumped into a pot of frying oil, or they would trade some more, so eventually get what they desired. Olivia crossed her fingers and hoped for the second one.  
  
She made herself comfortable sitting next to The Cat in the hut across from three Gelfs. No pot of boiling oil, good sign. She could not understand Gelf language at all, it sounded like random grunting and throat clearing, but it obviously was a language. Luckily, Kryten could translate it for them.  
  
"Oh dear" Said Kryten, in a very generic voice. If it wasn't such a serious time, it may have been kind of funny. Olivia gulped. The Gelf across from her pointed a fat stubby finger at Dave.  
  
Olivia noticed what was in its other hand. It looked a little like a mutant bird, but then she saw it change into a lamp, then a bunny, and then back into the mutant bird. "What's that?" She asked.  
  
"I believe its an Emohawk. A different kind of polymorph that can change its form to whatever its master desires." He explained.  
  
"Cool, I want one of those." She said.  
  
"Not a good idea, ma'am, it feeds off emotions." Kryten, Cat, Dave and Arnold all sighed at the memory of what it turned them into before.  
  
"You don't wanna' mess with that thing." Warned Dave in a whisper.  
  
The Gelf grunted something in an angrier tone. Olivia noticed Kryten gulping.  
  
"What do they want, man?" Kryten didn't answer. Dave noticed the Gelf pointing at him. "What, me hat?"  
  
"No, not your hat sir."  
  
"Me jacket?"  
  
"No sir, not your jacket."  
  
"He doesn't want me long johns, does he?"  
  
"No sir, not your long johns, either." Olivia knew where this was going, and it didn't sound the least bit good.  
  
"well what then? Me"  
  
Kryten hesitated. "He wants you to be his daughters mate." Kryten pointed to the Gelf on the right.  
  
"No way!" shouted Dave. The Gelf woman began to run her fingers though her hair.  
  
~~  
  
About an hour later, Olivia stood in the darkness of night with a flower in her hand, watching Dave and the Gelf get married. She gave Dave a look of sympathy, and looked back at Starbug. No one seemed to be looking in her direction, so she took the opportunity to take off. They had the O/G unit.  
  
Olivia rushed up the steps as silently as she could and tried to pull open the door. It wouldn't budge. She looked over back at the village where Dave was being pulled off with the Gelf. Were they really going to let him go through with that?  
  
~~~  
  
A/N I meant for that chapter to be a little longer, sorry. I know it was stupid. Flame all you want. 


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Hey people, I'm back! Its summer break, so I'll have plenty of time to slave away at the computer working on fics. Maybe I'll even finish my other ones. (A few graphic scenes in here, that is if you have the kind of sick mind that can picture them all) Thanks for the beta read, Ricke!  
  
  
  
~~  
  
The large female Gelf soon pulled Dave into the tent, and closed the door. Olivia winced. What could be worse then that? He would probably have to sleep with her. He wouldn't be able to resist, she was triple his size, Oh god! She realized she was out in the open and could easily be noticed. She even saw a Gelf pointing at her, and without thinking, dove off the steps of Starbug. It was a good seven feet to the ground. Her ankles throbbed as she hit the ground, but she was able to keep her balance, and not make much sound. She slowly crept through the darkness closer and closer to where Dave had been dragged. She felt a hand grab her arm and nearly jumped. Her adrenalin quickly rushed to a high, then she realized it was only Arnold.  
  
"You scared me!' She whispered.  
  
"I'm sorry… You must think I am a coward." He said softly  
  
Olivia shook her head and moved slightly closer to him. "We are on a Gelf planet, its too dangerous to try and be brave. And besides, I am hiding too." She reassured him.  
  
"Um, we should get back…" He began to pull her back to Starbug. She followed him, and he let go of her.  
  
"What about Dave?" she whispered.  
  
"We'll get him later." He whispered back. He didn't seem to be too happy about this. It was probably his dream come true to get rid of Dave in that way.  
  
She began to walk back up to the steps when she heard someone shout "SLIGHT CHANGE OF PLANS, GUYS!" There was Dave, running back to Starbug. Oh shit! The Gelfs were not going to be too happy about this. As quickly as humanly possible Olivia dived through the doors of Starbug and under the nearest table. "Hurry!" She said aloud. Not loud enough for anyone to hear, mostly to herself.  
  
The Cat, in his Cuban heels came storming through the door next, then Arnold with his Black boots, then Kryten, then finally Dave.  
  
"My God! Why the hell did you do that, Dave?" she shouted, finally coming up from under the table.  
  
Dave was panting hard as he punched the 'door close' button. "You don't want to know!" He said between breaths.  
  
Nasty pictures filled Olivia's head. "Oh gross!" she said softly.  
  
"I've got some bad news." He said, finally being able to breath. "I think the Polymorph may have gotten aboard."  
  
"What? That thing will suck the emotions right out of us!" Shouted Arnold.  
  
"No way in hell do I want to look like a hobo again! I'll die!" Shouted The Cat, smoothing his perfect hair.  
  
Starbug instantly took off, throwing Olivia off her feet right into the Cat. She fell and landed right in his lap. She looked up at him and he was smiling with his sharp fangs showing. "Hey baby!" He said in a smooth sly voice. Arnold looked in slight jealousy.  
  
Olivia raised an eyebrow and got up. "Um, thanks." She looked up at the cat, wearing one of his nicest suits, and her, in her clothes. They were the same ones she had been wearing the whole time. She needed to go digging through wardrobes for more clothes. The space corps uniforms were really ugly. She hated the knee length beige skirts. She could never walk in those. Olivia walked into another storage room to see if maybe there were some clothes. She began to search through boxes. Only useless crap. Hey, a sweater! Olivia pulled it out. It was light blue, a little big, but cozy. She pulled it over her head and felt its warmth. It began to feel tight around her body. Strange. She reached up to push the door open so she could go see how it looked, but her arm wouldn't move. The sweater was now about 5 sizes tighter. What the smeg was going on? She began to have trouble breathing and fell over onto the floor. She could feel it getting tighter and tighter, The sleeves were half way up her arms, She let out a squeal. She reached for a scissors that were conveniently placed nearby, then realized her sweater was gone. She took a few deep breaths, enjoying the air circulating through her lungs. She was so confused, not to mention dazed and breathless. She took another breath, and put the scissors down and walked back out to the main room.  
  
"You look like you've just seen a ghost!" Dave commented.  
  
Olivia rubbed her pale face and sat down. "Something strange is going on." She mumbled.  
  
"Think it could be the polymorph?" Asked Arnold.  
  
Olivia didn't reply. She felt an arm around her shoulder that surprised her a little. It made her feel happy that they cared for her, that they wanted her to be happy and safe, and she was a vital member of the crew. She looked up at Arnold, who was holding her, and smiled. She shut her eyes, trying to think of what this could possibly mean, if she maybe should be feeling uneasy about the sudden touch. Dave began to scream, followed by a shriek from the Cat and Arnold. She felt something warm and spongy gripping her forehead. She opened her eyes, the sight before her made her heart almost stop. She was silent. If she had made a sound she may have choked. There was a low pitched growl as she fell off her chair and hit the ground. She laid on her back with her eyes shut. She didn't feel any different at all. She wasn't even in any physical pain. She layed there not even considering getting up and letting them know she was ok. Instead she dozed off in her own world off insane killing sprees and chopping the heads off teddy bears and watching little kids scream. A smile spread over her face as she laid there. Somewhere along the lines of this, she was lifted up on to a bunk. Kryten did a quick examination to see what was wrong, but it was obvious what had happened. The polymorph had gotten her.  
  
"We have to find it before it gets us, and extract her DNA from it." Said Dave. He got up and grabbed his bazookoid. "Come on, Cat! You guys stay there!" Lister and the Cat ran off. Arnold and Cat both stood above her stunned. Arnold was a little bit scared, but that was mostly because he was such a coward.  
  
Olivia opened her eyes. Instead of being the light shade of honey brown they normally were, they were a bright firey red. She looked up at Arnold, but she didn't see him. Instead she saw a useless piece of putrid human flesh wasting space. Something was wrong. She finally got up to get a clue of what had happened. To her utter surprise, she didn't see what she expected to see, she saw her hair was now in a mess of black dreadlocks. Her T-shirt had been replaces a baggy bright red Button up shirt clearly stating the phrase "I hate everything!" clearly on the front, and her jeans were now 10 sizes bigger and ripped. She had on black combat boots with five inch heals. Her ears were now covered in tiny black and silver studs. She let out a growl that even surprised herself. She quickly got up and pushed Arnold out of the way. He moved lips like he was about to say something, but stopped himself. He stepped a few more steps backwards. Their eyes locked and she met his frightened gaze with a challenging stare. "What are you looking at? Go ahead, save yourself with your swimming certificates." she grumbled in a low pitched voice.  
  
His eyes widened a little before he looked away. He was surprised and hurt by her comment. It was too late for him. Olivia had already picked up a bazookoid, and had it pointed right at him. was she completely mad? She slowly positioned it right at his forehead and touched it to his cold skin. "don't move, or I'll blast your brains out." And she would do it to. It had stolen her compassion, hey love, and her overall sanity.  
  
Arnold gulped, and beads of sweat ran down his face while a shiver ran down his spine. He was scared.  
  
Olivia laughed at him, and pulled the trigger. They were both expecting a huge fire that would completely destroy Arnold, but instead the bazookoid transformed into the same hideous monster they had seen before. It let out a growl, as it raised a tentacle to Arnold's head. The color faded from his face, his scream changed into a helpless whine, then he toppled over onto the floor. Olivia couldn't have cared wither way. Olivia went off to look for another gun, there were others, and who knew what they were capable of, they were bigger then her.  
  
~  
  
Dave and The cat both came rushing in the room. "What's goin' on?" shouted Dave.  
  
"You interrupted my nap for this?" Said Cat, pointing to a motionless Rimmer laying on the floor. He lifted his head. "That was exhilarating!" His hair looked like he had been struck by lightning. His cloths were singed, and his body was full of little nicks and scars. "Hey there, blokes. I was just seeing what would happen if I electrocuted myself with that thing." He said, motioning towards the main council. Everything that was once between him and the main council was now knocked out of the way, and he was a good 12 feet from it. Surges of blue electricity ran through his hair. They could both pretty much play the whole scene in their heads. It was quite funny to think about.  
  
Dave let out a laugh. 'What happened, Rimmer man?"  
  
"That big red thing stole my common sense, my fear!!" he sounded like an excited little boy. "Now I can do all the things I was too afraid to do before!" And with that he reached into one of the machines and pulled out a large metal rod and hit Lister over the head with it.  
  
"OWW! HEY, WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!" shouted Dave, rubbing his head. Arnold just laughed.  
  
~  
  
In order to strike, no one can know you are there, they should not be able to see you, hear you, or even sense you. A predator should always be within 5 feet chosen prey, unless it knows it can outrun it…  
  
These words ran over and over in Olivia's head as she searched through storage for a weapon. She would kill them all just to prove to herself she could. Just to prove she was smarter, and that it didn't matted they were more advanced then her, because they grew up in the future. None of that mattered, she would kill them.  
  
She searched through box after box. Nothing she found that was of any use to her. Then she realized, if she was going to prove to herself she could kill them, that she was better, and higher in the gene pool, she couldn't use a weapon. She would have to kill them with her hands. They would never expect it. She would get them to trust her, then betray them, and kill them. The thoughts sounded more and more exciting by the minute! The thought of petty little human wasted lives in danger amused her.  
  
~  
  
"Olivia! There you are, we need to find that thing and freeze it and get your DNA strands back." Said Dave.  
  
"It stole my style! My grace!" whined a familiar voice. The cat stepped out of the kitchen. His large ugly teeth stuck out, and his hair was cut in a bowl shape. And his cloths… you get the point. It would be as easy as a playground bully beating up a kindergartener in the schoolyard. All the intimidation would end.  
  
"What did it turn into?" asked Olivia, trying not to blow her "cover"  
  
"I'm not sure, but it could be anything. We can't take any chances."  
  
"Um, gentlemen! Can you wait just a moment? I don't think I can wait any longer to get into some square trousers and plastic sandals." Said The Cat, with an enormous lisp.  
  
"Yeah, whatever." Said Dave. The Cat quickly scurried off in a waddle.  
  
Olivia looked up at Dave. It was useless trying to hold back her malicious instincts. They had always lurked in the back of her mind; she just never listened. Without compassion, there was nothing else to listen to but her anger, her fear, and her bitterness. These emotions were growing to fill the empty spaces in her mind where compassion once was.  
  
"You don't seem to really be affected… Well, except for the change in cloths" Said Dave.  
  
What would she have said before, when she had compassion? "yeah… I guess." She mumbled.  
  
"Nice dreads." He commented  
  
"they're a lot better then yours…" She suddenly said. The she stopped herself. Oops.  
  
Dave shrugged. He seemed to be a little surprised by her comment. "Krytes! Get in here!"  
  
Next, a chirpy, dancing mechanoid came waltzing into the room holding a feather duster. He began to tab dance and smile. "Hello Mr. Lister, sir! How do you do? And Ms. Angeledis Ma'am, I do love your new hair style."  
  
"Oh no man, what happened?" Said Lister, noticing the change.  
  
What an idiot, it was obvious the polymorph had taken his jelousy… towards her. Oh this was just too much. What was the point of seeking revenge in your opponents didn't care? The whole point was she was going to show him she was better then him, how could she do that if he lost his smegging bitterness towards her?  
  
"The Polymorph sir, it seems to have stolen an emotion, but I really don't mind sir. Can I get either of you anything. Mr. Rimmer sir, you are being awfully quiet, can I get you anything?"  
  
Arnold didn't answer, because he was personally in a state of electric shock on the floor.  
  
"You Metal git! I told you not to call me by my last name!" Shouted Olivia. She just couldn't help it. She hated her last name. Especially now, because she was no angel.  
  
Everyone stared in her general direction until The Cat… well he was no longer really the cat, walked into the room wearing tight plaid trousers. Those kind of trousers were kind of popular with preppy teenage girls in her "day". She considered asking if he had stolen those from her, because she had owned at least one pair at some time, but decided her "cover" was already broken enough. Not like she would really want them back now.  
  
Olivia really didn't want to find the polymorph, she was perfectly happy with herself right now. Maybe it was a good thing, they would get drained into vegetables. Then she could finally be alone.  
  
"How are we going to get rid of this thing?" Dave whined in exasperation.  
  
Olivia didn't even bother to listen, she just walked out of the room and sat in her quarters and turned the music loud. A human male appeared in front of her from a candy wrapper laying on the floor. He was tall and had sexy dark hair, but Olivia didn't take much notice of it, even though it was right above her. He stared at her. She gave him the evil eye and turned off the music. "What do you want?" she mumbled. She knew it was the polymorph, she wasn't stupid.  
  
"I was in your mind, I know you won't harm me." He said, in a soft velvet voice.  
  
"Frankly I couldn't care less about you." She mumbled. It wasn't completely true, she cared a little bit, but not in a compassionate way. She wanted it to eat them alive.  
  
"There is something you can do for me…" It said.  
  
"And why would I want to do something for you?" She said, while a crumpled paper up and down like a ball.  
  
I'm still hungry. And there is an emotion I have always wanted to taste." He said.  
  
"Why should I care?" she mumbled.  
  
"Because, I'll kill them for you. I know that's what you want. And I'll give your emotion back." He said, his voice sounding haughty.  
  
"I don't want my compassion back. But what's the emotion you want to taste?" She was slightly curious now.  
  
"lust." He replied, while rubbing his palms together. If her life was a movie, it would have been followed with evil laughter.  
  
"You'll kill them if I make one of them experience lust?"  
  
"Yes. I have always longed to taste its sweet nectar…"  
  
"alright. I'll do it, but you better kill them. I am sick of them. They aren't of any use to me. I would have done it myself, but this seems easier."  
  
"Thank you." He said. The human male figure in front of her transformed into a small fly, and buzzed away.  
  
It really didn't take much energy for her to think of how to make one of them experience lust. The easiest would be Lister, he had pretty limited interest. She got up from her bunk and walked back into starbug's main room. Dave was waiting for her it seemed, he had a bazookoid in his hands. He looked at her with a subtle longing. She stared back, waiting for the moment. She didn't want to do what she was about to at all, but he would be killed after, so it was worth it. She lifted her hands to her neck and unbuttoned the top button of her shirt. Dave raised an eyebrow with curiosity. Keeping a straight face, she unbuttoned another. Dave dropped his bazookoid, but didn't look away from Olivia. She unbuttoned another, showing a slight amount of cleavage. His eyes widened more. Through the corner of her eye, Olivia could see the small fly buzzing into the room. Any time now… Dave took a step closer, when the polymorph struck. It took its form. Olivia was relieved that she didn't have to unbutton her shirt any further.  
  
Dave let out a scream as the polymorph was about to suck the emotions out of him, but then it froze. It quivered and turned blue. Arnold was standing at the door with a bazookoid in his hand.  
  
It was all a waste. They defeated it. Now she would have to defeat them! Olivia dove for Arnold, landing on him hard. She reached her arm back, and swung it forward, hitting his nose with her palm. She lifted herself off him and dusted her cloths off, and buttoned her shirt up. Blood gushed out of Arnold's nostrils. A sharp pain rushed through her nerves. Once again, her eyes rolled to the back of her head, and her knees buckled below her.  
  
~  
  
Olivia lifted her hand to her head. She was in her own quarters. What a headache. The memories of the previous evening flooded back to her. It was like a title wave hitting a small canoe on a peaceful river. Her mind was flooded with painful humiliating thoughts. Her awful cloths were gone, and her compassion was obviously back. Her head began to hurt. She was so humiliated. She didn't even know what to consider first, the fact that she was about to turn them all over to the polymorph, or that she broke Arnold's nose. Olivia got up and looked around. She wished she had her diary, but it wasn't in the stasis pod with her. She needed to write. She settled on some blank printer paper, and grabbed a pen.  
  
~  
  
I cannot believe what I allowed myself to do without my compassion. I have no idea where those thoughts, and those instincts came from, but they are obviously somewhere in the back of my mind, and they were just waiting to be released. I am so humiliated at how horrible I was without my compassion. I cared for no one but myself. My god, if it wasn't for Arnold they would all be dead! Well, I have certainly worn out my welcome here, maybe I should just go. They probably don't want someone here who is a threat to their safety.  
  
~  
  
A tear slowly streamed down Olivia's face. No wonder Kryten hated her. They probably all hated her now. They had reason to. She took the remaining piece of paper. She would use it to compose her apology to them, and the she would leave.  
  
~  
  
Dear Crewmates,  
  
I am dreadfully sorry for all the damage I caused, but you all don't even know the half of it. I am such a terrible person for what I was about to do, and that's unforgivable. I was obviously a threat to your safety and well being, so that is why I am going. By the time you find this, I will probably already be gone. I will never forget your kind hospitality, and I hope maybe to see you again.  
  
With good wishes,  
  
Olivia  
  
~  
  
More tears followed the previous ones, and she began so sob. Above her head was an air duct. This would be her escape. She had absolutely no idea of how to get out of here, or if there was any way at all, but she would see where this little thing took her.  
  
  
  
A/N: reviews? 


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: This story is much much much more about Olivia than Red Dwarf. I hope you guys don't mind. I just kind of realized that now.  
  
Spoilers for Ouroboros. Thanks for the Beta read, Foolishlover! I really appreciate it!  
  
Unfortunately, the air duct didn't really lead anywhere. Olivia curled up in a small spot and wrapped her arms around her legs. She yawned and leaned her head back and shut her eyes, not sure if she would be able to sleep. It wasn't comfortable at all, plus there was so much to think about. After a few hours, Olivia was asleep. Not deep sleep, just restless sleep. She awoke more tired and sore then she had ever been in her life. Her entire body felt stiff. She was about to stretch out, but she heard voices.  
  
"What do you mean GONE?" It was Dave. Her tense muscles were begging her to stretch out, just move a little bit.  
  
"Where could she have gone?" Asked Arnold.  
  
"Sirs, perhaps its better she's gone." Said Kryten. "The cranky old bird, always expecting us to come at her every beck and call, never lifts a finger." Olivia became red hot. She wished there was some sort of escape from here that didn't involve suffocation.  
  
"KRYTEN!" Shouted Dave and Arnold at the same time.  
  
"Sirs, she put your life in danger!" Kryten was in a state of pure jealousy.  
  
"Yeah, but that's not her fault, it's the polymorph's! You remember what you were like when the polymorph took your guilt-"  
  
"Okay! Okay, Mr. Lister." Kryten suddenly sounded guilty.  
  
Olivia took a deep breath and stretched her aching muscles. This was even more humiliating. They wanted her back and she had created a huge dramatic scene! More reason them to dislike her! It would be even worse if they came looking for her and found her! Olivia realized they would probably search the duct any moment now. She began to crawl as far away as she could get. It was pitch black, so she couldn't see where she was going. The duct was very dusty, and her nose became very irritated. She tried to hold back a sneeze, but it was a useless attempt. The sneeze shot out of her nose. She became silent, hoping they hadn't heard. Her brain constantly trying to thinking of a solution to get out of this mess. There was no solution. It was pointless. Why was she even up here? They were going to find her anyway, what was the use of digging herself deeper into the hole? Olivia crawled back the other way and kicked open the duct, full humiliation baring her shoulders. Kryten, Dave, Arnold and the Cat were all standing there staring at her. Olivia stared back, but could not meet their eyes. She dusted her jeans off and looked back. Kryten shook his head and walked out of the room. She exhaled and sat down on the bunk trying to keep from crying. "I thought you would be angry at me." She mumbled.  
  
"angry?" asked Dave.  
  
"Well, I almost killed you."  
  
"Kill me? You were." Dave looked so confused.  
  
"I know." she mumbled softly.  
  
"Oh" Dave mumbled, obviously disappointed that he wasn't really into him the way he thought she was.  
  
Words could not describe what Olivia was feeling. She was slightly relieved they didn't want to kill her after what she did, but she wasn't exactly pleased with their reaction. It wasn't as if she expected them to be okay with it. She expected them to be furious and never want to look at her again. What she was getting was better then she expected, but also in the back of her mind, she expected a little better. She just wanted them to like her, and it was so important to her. It was even possible she had made such a big running away scene for attention. The thought sent a chill up her spine that she would do anything like that. It was so childish. Had the polymorph taken her compassion only because she thought it was her most treasured emotion? What if it wasn't? Sure she wasn't a heartless bitch, but she never expected to feel this way. It was strange and unexpected. Another thing, why did they just suddenly forgive her? Sure, she had lost her compassion and love, but some of the thing she said and felt were true, and that made her feel horrible. She almost thought she was perfect. She thought she was a very caring, compassionate person who didn't judge. It was like she had been wrong all along, that she was no better then anyone else, and that those feelings meant nothing in the long run. "I'm sorry! I really didn't mean to put you in danger. I mean-" An apology was no use, it would never make up for what she had realized about herself.  
  
"No, Its alright. Its not your fault. We were all a bit crazy back there." Dave Interrupted. He obviously wanted to dismiss the subject, but in Olivia's mind, it would never truly be dismissed. He walked out of the room.  
  
Arnold stood there, rubbing his bandaged nose. She walked over to his. "I'm so sorry" She said, almost crying.  
  
Arnold sighed. "It'll heal" he mumbled, and followed Dave out.  
  
The Cat glared at her. "You almost got polymorph on my 14th favorite suit!" and he followed the others.  
  
Maybe it would have been better if she had just stayed in the duct. Things were pretty much right with her and the crew, but she still felt a strong feeling of emptiness and self-loathing. She had lived her life holding back, not standing up for herself and her interests. Times she had never said what she was really feeling. She hadn't even completely realized it at the time. She obviously thought she was getting something better out of the deal by being a good person, but all along she wasn't any better then anyone else no matter what she did and how hard she tried. Olivia lay flat on her bunk. Memories were coming back to her of her childhood. While her friends were able to be heartless and mean, she felt horrible about every mean thing she did. It was like a curse. Times when she had been weak and let herself be the second hand in friendships, and relationships. There was no use stirring over this anymore, it was only bringing her farther down. There was so much more to think about. Like how these memories linked to her previous dreams. An enormous array of unfamiliar negative thoughts swirled through Olivia's head. In the background, she could hear shouting from her crewmates, but it didn't distract her. She didn't feel like she could face them. She was too incomplete. She wasn't really sure of who she was.  
  
The crew was calling her name, but she didn't answer them. She was half awake, half asleep in her thoughts. Life felt like a bad dream she just wanted to escape. The feeling felt strangely familiar. She wanted someone to talk to, other then a diary.  
  
Arnold walked in and noticed her on her bunk with a dazed look at the ceiling. His automatic reaction was that she had lost consciousness. "Olivia!" he shouted in her ear. She was so startled that she instantly rose and let out a shocked scream. Her heart was pumping. Arnold met her eye. She wasn't sure of what to do, yell at him for distracting her, or hug him and start a fit of sobbing.  
  
He immediately stepped back, "I'm sorry-" Then he remembered the real reason why he had come in, "um, there seems to be some sort of rip in space and time, and somehow we were able to open a portal to another dimension." Arnold motioned for her to quickly follow him, which she did. She realized how exhausted she was once she got up. She followed him into the cockpit. What looked like a huge blue noodle connecting from Starbug out into space was visible. She was going to ask what it was, but she figured she should just keep quiet. She followed Arnold into the portal.  
  
"You know Olivia." he began shyly. Olivia gave him a slight smile and he continued. "Its really not your fault. We met up with the polymorph before. It took Kryten's guilt and he almost sacrificed us all to it."  
  
"You're not serious!" She exclaimed.  
  
"I am, and it took Lister's fear. That was a good laugh." He smiled. It was kind of surprising. She hadn't seen him smile very much. It made her feel a lot better about everything. "You took quite a shock back there, are you sure your okay?" She asked Arnold laughed "I don't think I'll be able to get my hair back to normal." His hair was still a bit spiky.  
  
They carefully entered the portal, walking as carefully as possible on the fragile blue ground. Olivia and Arnold soon met up with the others. They were so engaged in their conversation they literally ran right into them, not realizing they had stopped. Olivia looked forward and noticed they were not the only ones in the tunnel, across from them was another Dave Lister, another Cat, another Kryten, and a complete stranger. She was dressed in red, and had shoulder length brown hair. She was really pretty, and Olivia was slightly intimidated. "So it worked out for you guys then?" asked Dave. It seemed like they were already in a conversation.  
  
"Yeah, I guess it did." She replied.  
  
"Dave, who is she?" asked Olivia, sounding confused.  
  
Dave hesitated, "um. an old girlfriend." He said.  
  
"Oh" Olivia nodded. An enormous flash, followed by the sound of firing, gigantic sparks of yellow fire, and crashes and jolts all came almost completely out of the blue. Olivia tripped a few steps back and landed on her bottom. She could hear the sound of strong winds, and noticed a huge hole in the tunnel. A loud scream was also to be heard. Olivia was shocked that this had happened so fast. The woman had fallen through the hole!  
  
"Kris! Grab my hand!" Shouted one of the Dave's.  
  
She noticed Arnold running back towards the ship with a pale look on his face.  
  
"It's the Gelfs! They must have figured out a way to fly in anti-space!" He shouted.  
  
The Gelfs? Oh smeg this was not a good sign. They just nearly got away from them last time, and that's how they got the polymorph. Olivia ran back towards Arnold and stood by his side at the end of the tunnel where it was safe. "Not the Gelfs again." She said in a scared whine.  
  
Arnold was silent. He soon rushed back into Starbug. Olivia stayed there to make sure the others were safe. The Rip was now a huge gap separating the 2 tunnels. Why weren't they coming? Finally Dave and the others began to run back, but there was one more person then before. The woman was now with them.  
  
~  
  
"I cannot believe I am stuck here with you." Whined Kristine. Olivia had found out that was her name.  
  
Olivia stepped out of her quarters. "Um, hi"  
  
"Who are you?" asked Kristine, sounding very surprised.  
  
"I'm Olivia." She introduced herself, then gave a smile. Kristine was almost a foot taller then her with her platforms.  
  
"How did you get here?" she asked.  
  
"A stasis pod." Olivia replied. "I'm not really sure how I got there."  
  
Kristine did seem to be interested, she had not talked to another woman in ages, and neither had Olivia. She put her hair behind her ears and managed a smile even after the rough day she had.  
  
"Well. Its nice to meet you." Said Kristine. "Um. How long have you been here?"  
  
"Not very long. Only long enough to be attacked by Gelfs and pick arguments with Kryten." She laughed. Her arguments with Kryten were quite comical when you thought about it. At least there was something to laugh about. Olivia didn't like arguing with anyone, but when it happened she didn't give up. She felt like she had to be right, and no one could stop her. Normally she would try and avoid conflict, but sometimes there was no way to avoid it, especially when Kryten made such ridicules demands!  
  
"I know what that's like." Said the taller woman, enjoying female company at last. The two of them went into her quarters and talked for awhile. They both told each other the more interesting details of their lives. Olivia was quite impressed at Kristine's. She seemed quite smart, beautiful and successful. She still was friendly to Olivia, so they got along famously.  
  
Kristine figured she would have to stay awhile. Having a female around made her forget the fact that her Dave was gone. Life as she had known if for the last 2 years was gone. And here, was a sleazy, slobby Dave Lister, A Smeghead Rimmer, an obsessed annoying Kryten, a fashion obsessed Cat and Olivia. She was pretty much the only thing that appealed to her about this place. She had someone she could talk about girl things for awhile. Someone who understood her better.  
  
It became late and Kristine settled in on the top bunk in Olivia's quarters. They both fell asleep right away. It had been such a long day for Olivia. Sleeping in a nice warm bunk felt so much better then sleeping in an air duct. She hadn't told Kristine her last night's sleep was inside a small cramped air duct that was dusty and hard to breath in. It was embarrassing to her. Where had she come up with an idea like that? She had , after all, nearly sacrificed them all to the polymorph, and revealed her breasts to Dave Lister. Being without compassion and love was the strangest feeling, She cared for no one but herself. She was almost happy like that. Happy laying there letting the others do all the work for her. Not caring. Nearly sacrificing people she had once cared about to a beast like the polymorph, and not caring at all. It had almost felt good not to care.  
  
Once her compassion was back she had been humiliated at what she had almost, and would have done. It was terrible, and she had just had to hide and get away. They seemed to understand, and they pretty much told her it was okay, not to her it was not okay! She had lied, she had tricked, she had hurt.  
  
Olivia heard a low pitched snore coming from overhead. Kristine was asleep, but she lay motionless on her bunk. She was exhausted, but could not get a wink of sleep. Eventually, after hours of tossing and turning she fell asleep. 


	7. Chapter 7

AN: I am really sorry for not updating anything in so long. I have been focusing on other things I guess. and I kinda had writers block, but I'm back, baby!  
  
This chapter contains sexual references and well, Rimmer being.. Lets just say nosy!  
  
Spoilers for Duct soup.   
  
Olivia woke late the next morning. The room was empty and Kristine's bunk was nicely made. Olivia tossed and turned until eventually she jumped off her bunk and searched for a fresh pair of clothes. She managed to find a dark blue T-shirt and jeans. It was better then nothing. Before putting them on she stepped into the shower  
  
~  
  
"Hey Rimmer, look!" Lister called from across the room. He was staring into a small monitor.  
  
"What do you want." Rimmer said bitterly.  
  
"Look at this surveillance tape! You can see in the shower!" he said, pointing into the empty shower stall from above.  
  
"I hope you're not planning on twiddling away your hours watching Kochanski in the shower all day over and over again." Said Rimmer.  
  
"No way, Man, I am way way waaaay too mature for that." He said, laughing. He got up and stepped out of the room into his quarters.  
  
Rimmer imitated his laugh and sat down in front of the monitor with his feet up on the console spinning in his chair. He noticed the surveillance tape was no longer in an empty room. There was Olivia standing in front of the shower. He suddenly moved his head closer to the screen, fully alert now. She pulled her shirt up over her head, and was now wearing nothing but a bra! Rimmer's mouth opened in a slight shock. He looked around to make sure no one was in the room, then turned his attention back to the screen. He knew what he was doing was wrong, but how could he resist? It was like he was just being handed the opportunity to see a beautiful woman naked in privacy, and she would never know about it. How could he resist this? Opportunities like this didn't come along very often. Rimmer continued to stare as she removed her bra, then the rest of her clothes. And stepped into the shower. He couldn't believe what he was seeing!  
  
Rimmer became aware of a tightening in the front of his trousers. The one thing he was not aware of was the time at the corner of the screen. He thought he had been watching it while it happened, but the tape was from a half hour ago. He didn't even notice he couldn't hear the faint sound of running water in the background. The only thing he was focusing in was the erotic images on the screen.  
  
~  
  
Olivia finished drying her hair and walked out of her quarters and found Kochanski eating breakfast. She smiled over at her.  
  
"Sleep well?" She asked Kristine.  
  
"Yeah, you?" She asked, looking slightly upset.  
  
"Fine." Olivia knew she was missing her crewmates.  
  
Kristine looked up and hid the _expression on her face with a smile at Olivia. She motioned for her to take a seat next to her and eat.  
  
"No thanks, I'm not hungry." Said Olivia.  
  
"You need to eat!" Said Kristine. Olivia noticed she was eating cottage cheese with pineapple chunks.  
  
"Oh alright, that looks good." She said.  
  
Kristine looked down at her cottage cheese with pineapple chinks. It was like her comfort food. She ate it because she missed her Dave so much. All the free space in her mind that already wasn't taken up by missing him was being used at trying to figure out a way to get herself back!  
  
"Okay, if you don't want to share." said Olivia, while getting up.  
  
Kristine noticed she had been spacing out. "You can have some. sorry." She said.  
  
"No, that's alright. I'll get some cereal." She said, looking through the cupboards. She noticed the door open a crack, and Rimmer sitting inside the room with the illuminating glow of a TV screen lighting his face. Olivia slowly opened the door and took a step inside. He didn't notice her, he just stared at the screen. She stepped closer. Rimmer seemed very focused on the picture on the screen, which she noticed was in black and white. She wondered if maybe it was an old movie. She took another step closer to see that the scene on the screen replicated her quarters! The shower was on, and a woman stood in the shower completely naked, and that woman was her!  
  
"Oh My god! What are you doing!" She shouted.  
  
He instantly spun around in his chair and tried to hide the images on the screen from her. He pressed the emergency shut down switch, because that was the only thing he could think of to shut the monitor off. "Olivia!. Its. it's. not what it looks like!" He shouted.  
  
Olivia's cheeks became bright red and she began to breath harder. She didn't know weather to cry or kill him! "Well it looks like you were spying on me in the shower!" She shouted. Olivia became very angry and embarrassed at the same time. She didn't even notice the hot angry tears drip down her face.  
  
"I can explain!!" he shouted, getting up quickly.  
  
"Save it!" She shouted, storming out of the room.  
  
Kristine looked up from her cottage cheese and looked up at Olivia's angry face. "What happened?" She questioned.  
  
Olivia sniffled. She stared at Kristine. "That bastard!" She mumbled, and walked away, locking the door to their quarters.  
  
The next thing Kristine saw was Arnold rushing out of the room, looking around. "Where did she go?" He asked, looking really surprised.  
  
"What did you do to her?" Kristine asked. He ignored her and walked out of the room.  
  
~  
  
Olivia continued to breath deeply as she stood in the middle of the quarters. The door was locked. She was so furious! She had liked Arnold a lot. To her, he seemed kind and sweet and caring and shy. She had never expected a guy like that to do something like this! How many times had he been spying on her in the shower? Olivia's hands became fists. This was so typical! Men taking advantage of her. No matter what it was. It wasn't him seeing her naked that bothered her, it was that she never gave him permission!  
  
Olivia had wanted to get revenge on the man in her dream. Instead of doing so she had just taken it. She had never even told anybody about it until now, and it just lead to more violation.  
  
She had never gotten the chance to seek revenge. Now she had the perfect chance, but what was there to do? She didn't hate him for this, she was just really angry!  
  
There was a knock at the door. She remained silent. "Its me!" Shouted Kristine.  
  
Olivia opened it up and quickly let her in, noticing Arnold standing behind her. She quickly shut and locked the door, sitting back on the bed. Her face was still red, and she had an angry _expression on her face.  
  
"What did he do to you, Olivia?" Kristine asked her in a sympathetic tone.  
  
Olivia blinked. "He was spying on me in the shower!" She said.  
  
"What a bastard!" Said Kristine, hugging Olivia.  
  
Olivia sighed. "I just wanted to make friends here. I mean, I'm kind of stuck here, so I wanted to make the best of it. I let the little things go, like Lister trying to kiss me, but this just really makes me mad!"  
  
"Angry you mean?" Kristine asked her.  
  
"Yeah." She replied, remembering that the word had different meanings.  
  
"Look, Olivia. It's not your fault that he did that! Its his and his only. He completely invaded your privacy, and he owes you an apology! More than an apology really." Said Kristine, trying to comfort her.  
  
"I guess." She said. She sighed. "Why bother?" I can't trust anyone around here! I can't even trust myself!"  
  
Kristine looked at her strangely.  
  
"Long story." She said, pushing her hair behind her ears. "Just haven't had the best experience here so far. The first night they all got drunk, and I found out some things I just really didn't want to know.Then I started to get my memory back. then we had to land on a Gelf planet. It seems like no one really knows what they are doing here. I'm already sick of this!"  
  
"You guys had to land on that Gelf planet, too?" Kristine asked her.  
  
"Yeah, then the polymorph got onboard. That was NOT a pretty sight!" She said, giggling.  
  
Kristine smiled. "That one was hard. It sucked the love out of my Dave! It was terrible!" She said.  
  
Olivia looked up at her curiously.  
  
"Me and the Dave Lister in my dimension were in love. He was only a hard light hologram, though."  
  
"Arnold said he used to be a hologram, but somehow they were able to change it." Said Olivia.  
  
"He's lucky I guess. I really miss my Dave! I just want to back there with him." Said Kristine.  
  
Olivia reached over and hugged her. "I'm so sorry, Kristine! I hope there is a way of getting him back." She said.  
  
"So do I." She said.  
  
~  
  
"What exactly were you doing, Rimmer?" Lister asked.  
  
"That's none of your smegging business!" Shouted Rimmer.  
  
"Its pretty obvious! Well you're really smooth! They aren't supposed to catch you when you're spying on them in the shower!"  
  
"Shut up, Lister!" he shouted. Rimmer stormed out of his quarters and sat down. He could hear the washing machine going. Kryten must have been doing the laundry. Rimmer felt really bad about what he had done. He had just completely taken advantage of her. She had every right to be angry at him. Probably after what she had been through she wasn't going to take anymore shit, especially from him.  
  
How could he? He had been doing so well! He was actually able to talk to her and say things that made sense. He hadn't even needed his trusty "wormdo" line! She seemed to like him. He rubbed his hands over his bandaged nose. It still hurt, but it was beginning to get better.  
  
Rimmer had to admit he liked her. She wasn't like the rest. She didn't want to vomit all over him at the sight of him. She didn't say his name to rhyme with scum. She actually called him by his first name. Not even his own mother called him by his first name!  
  
"Oh spin my nipple nuts and send me to Alaska!"  
  
Rimmer looked up and noticed Kryten's mechanical silhouette. It wasn't exactly a sight he enjoyed seeing. Rimmer was slightly angry that Kryten had distracted him from his thoughts. He got up and walked into the laundry room.  
  
"What's the problem?" Rimmer asked.  
  
"Oh. My self repair system has gone corrupt." Said Kryten.  
  
"How so?" Rimmer asked.  
  
"Well all the nano bots have escaped and abandoned me! For awhile I had a couple of them, but now they decided that enough was enough and left, too." Said the distressed Mechanoid. Rimmer shrugged and walked out, He couldn't worry about anyone's problems but his own.  
  
~  
  
Meanwhile Kryten was having problems of his own, and they went far beyond not having a functioning self repair system! He was beginning to get seriously jealous of the women that now occupied Starbug with them. One of them was rude and pushy. The other seemed to have Dave Lister after her. This was not good at all. Kryten knew what would happen next. The 2 of them would fall in love and he would be left behind. Kryten couldn't allow that to happen!  
  
He began to unload the machine and noticed Kochanski's red PVC uniform the size of doll clothing.  
  
"The thermostat! I swear I set the correct programming!" he mumbled.  
  
~  
  
Olivia was beginning to feel better. "Thanks, Kristine." Said Olivia, taking a deep breath.  
  
Suddenly the entire ship shook and the lights went out.  
  
"What just happened?" Asked Olivia, her adrenalin rushing to a high.  
  
"I don't know." Said Kristine, trying to find the door in the dark. After finally finding it she was able to unlock it, Olivia followed behind her slowly back into the ship.  
  
"What happened?" Kristine shouted, being met by the light of a torch.  
  
"The generator is down, Ma'am! I was just adjusting the thermo-settings and it overloaded! Give it a few moments for the back up to kick in." Said Kryten.  
  
The lights soon flickered on. Olivia looked up to see Arnold looking up at her, looking sorry. Olivia looked away from him.  
  
"Thank goodness." Said Lister.  
  
Right as he said that, almost on cue the lights began to screech and them flickered out again.  
  
"There goes the backup, now everything's dead!"  
  
"How come the doors closed?" Asked the Cat, now in the sleeping quarters with everyone else.  
  
"When the backup goes down the doors always lock; prevent fire, re-enforce hull integrity." Lister explained.  
  
"Okay, if everything is down who is steering? Is auto-pilot down, too?" Kochanski asked.  
  
"Everything is down! Oh I wish I had been more careful!" Said Kryten, sounding guilty.  
  
"You mean this ship's careening out of control through space with absolutely zero expertise at the helm?" Asked the Cat.  
  
"No change there." Mumbled Olivia.  
  
"We've got to re-fire the backup generator."  
  
"The only way to get to the backup is through the service ducts." Said Kryten. "Two miles of vent ways that wind their way through the ship like intestines. There should be a hatchway in your shower, sir."  
  
"Wonderful. Olivia mumbled. What a day. The last thing she needed was another bad day! This kind of thing seemed to be like a daily occurrence ever since she got here!  
  
"How long will that take?" Kochanski asked.  
  
"Oh, about six hours or so." Said Kryten  
  
"Six hours!" Shouted Olivia.  
  
"Oh smeg." Said Rimmer.  
  
"The reading said last night that there was gonna' be a meteor storm coming in directly ahead, but it won't hit us for at least twelve hours." Said Kochanski.  
  
"We should gather up some supplies. A little food, as much water as we can carry, and maybe even that magnetic fishing game." Said Kryten.  
  
"Lets get this over with." Olivia mumbled.  
  
~  
  
"It's so damn hot I can barely breathe! It's like being stuck in a sauna with a fat man on your face!" Shouted Cat. His echo rattled Olivia's ears.  
  
Olivia took a deep breath of hot air, instantly regretting it. She just wanted to be out of here! Rimmer followed closely behind her. She tried to ignore the fact that the one she was the angriest at was following too closely behind.  
  
"I don't feel so good... the walls are closing in!" Said Lister. Olivia stopped and got a little closer to him.  
  
"Are you okay?" She asked.  
  
Rimmer slightly wished he was Lister at the moment.  
  
"I need a break. I need air!" Said Lister, sounding winded. He stopped and sat down, Olivia sat down next to him.  
  
"He's claustrophobic, didn't you guys know?" Kochanski mentioned.  
  
"I kind of figured that out." Said Olivia, smiling to show that she wasn't angry at Kochanski.  
  
"I'm all right when I know I can get out, but now we're out in the middle somewhere... Can't breathe..."  
  
Olivia had no idea what he was talking about, but knew it wasn't good. "Just relax. Try and take deep breaths." She suggested.  
  
Rimmer just stared at them in jealousy. Why couldn't she be trying to make him feel better? He wasn't having a great time in the air ducts either. It was because he had betrayed her trust, that's why.  
  
"Have a drink." Said Olivia, handing him some water. He took it and began to gulp it down.  
  
"Okay, take a look around - see if we can unscrew one of the ceiling hatches; drop back down into the ship somewhere." Kochanski quickly suggested.  
  
"Alright, lets go." Said Kryten, following her. The Cat, Olivia and Arnold all stayed with Lister. Arnold kept a safe distance and sat down, spreading his legs. Olivia was slightly used to staying in air ducts by now. After all, she had spent a night in one.  
  
"Throat's closing. I'm choking." Said Dave, his voice getting softer.  
  
"Just keep drinking the water. You'll be alright." She said, sitting right up against him. It was killing Arnold for a second time!  
  
"Boy, is it cramped! Whew-ew! I tell you, if I was dead you most certainly could not swing me around in here!" Said the Cat.  
  
"Cat! Shut up!" Shouted Olivia, pointing to Dave.  
  
"Oh, sorry... not supposed to talk about that, right?" He remembered.  
  
Olivia smiled. She took a deep breath and rested her head in her hands, just wishing she could get away from it all. "Right." Said Lister.  
  
"Feeling better?" Olivia asked him.  
  
"A little." He replied.  
  
"I hope you don't mind me asking, but how did you become claustrophobic in the first place?" She asked him.  
  
"I was seventeen, working in the MegaMart, part time, as a trolley-parker. After a couple of months I fell in love with cashier number four...She was 22, come-to-behind-the-bacon-counter eyes... And there was just something about the way she held her pricing gun that made me crash m'trolleys. We started seeing each other, in the stock room, at break time-"  
  
"She gave you claustrophobia? I didn't know you could get it like that!" Said the Cat. 


	8. Chapter 8

AN: wow! I am actually writing! That's so amazing! How long has it been? A year maybe? I hope people have not forgotten about me! OK, here's the deal, I had written most of the next chapter on my computer, but we recently got a new computer, and it somehow got lost in the transferring process (along with all my digital photographs and all my other fics! Ahh!) So I hope you don't mind, but I am skipping forward some time, its not going to damage the plot anyway, and besides, in the last chapter I was just rambling and trying to finish the Duct soup episode, those of you who have seen it know what happens anyway. Thanks Jen (aka foolish lover) for the edit!  
  
~  
  
After finally getting out of the air ducts after their long, and nearly pointless journey, thanks to Kryten, Olivia was ready to kill someone. For their own safety, Kristine and Olivia decided to lock themselves in their sleeping quarters.  
  
"You mean to tell me no one ever fixed the pipes in here?" Kristine asked, accompanied by a loud "RRRRRTUT"   
  
"No…" She answered, while getting under her covers and trying to relax.  
  
"They might as well be trying to murder you then." She said, getting off her chair just as another "SRTALLUUUUUCAAAL" came from them. "I'll have to fix them." She said  
  
"You mean you can do that?" Olivia asked.  
  
"Course I can. Who do you think fixed them on MY Starbug." She replied with a smile. She got up and began to examine the pipes along the wall.  
  
"I don't know. Maybe Dave…"  
  
"No way, he was a soft light hologram back then." She said, searching around for the proper tools. "There has to be a repair kit around here somewhere." She soon spotted it and opened it up, finding nothing but some rusty screws, a rubber chicken and some gumdrops. "That figures." She mumbled.  
  
"Kristine, I doubt you would know much about this, but it has really been bothering me lately." Said Olivia, changing the subject.  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"Well I've been wanting to figure out how I ended up in that stasis pod. I had a strange dream about it awhile back. I was in some room with two scientists and I was basically agreeing to sign my life away while testing their stasis booth or something."  
  
Kristine sat there for a moment and pondered. "I'm not sure really. All I really know is that Stasis was originally designed for space ships that wanted to explore the universe, and often it would take more than a life time to do that, so they would use the stasis booths. I think the person you should ask is Kryten. He may have something on his history chip."  
  
Olivia sighed. "I can't ask Kryten, he hates me." the realization suddenly depressed her again.  
  
Kristine sighed. "He's jealous. Having women aboard is a bit too much for him."  
  
"Nothing here feels right. I can't trust anyone here but you, and my entire past is a mystery to me!" Olivia complained.  
  
"I know." Kristine offered her a reassuring smile. "Things will work out eventually. Amnesia doesn't last forever, all you need is a reminder of your past."  
  
"Where am I going to get a reminder?" Olivia asked.  
  
Kristine shrugged. "As for the crew members, you get used to them."  
  
"But your Dave was perfect!"   
  
"No, not right away. That took a lot of time! You just need to give things time."   
  
Olivia was comforted by Kristine's words. There wasn't exactly an immediate escape from any of her problems, so time would have to be her healer. Olivia pulled the blankets over herself and shut her eyes, hoping she would have another dream that would clue her in about her past.  
  
~  
  
Kryten, Lister, and Rimmer silently sat around the drive room exchanging glances. The Cat was busy giving himself a pedicure.   
  
"Kryten, I knew we shouldn't have let the Cat steer the ship all alone." Said Lister breaking the silence.  
  
"Hey, I was using the steering wheel as a foot rest. Do you honestly expect me to have to bend down while I am buffing my beautiful toenails?"  
  
"Cat! For all we know you could have been steering us right into a smegging black hole!"  
  
"Yeah, but at least I would have had gorgeous feet!" he said smiling a perfect sparkly smile with his fangs sticking out.  
  
Lister sighed and shook his head and continued the silence.  
  
"Sir… something seems to be showing up on the scans." Said Kryten  
  
"What is it, man?" Replied Lister, glad for the distraction.  
  
Kryten fiddled with a few buttons. "There must be a problem with the scans, sir." He pounded on the scanners a few times, expecting the readings to change. "Processing again…"  
  
"Kryten what is it!" Shouted Lister.  
  
"This must be a mistake!" Said Kryten, continuing to pound on the scanners.   
  
"What must be a mistake man, TELL ME!" Lister Shouted, leaping from his chair.  
  
"Well, Mr. Lister. According to the scanners, that big planetoid out there…" He said, pointing his rectangular finger out the window. "…Is Red Dwarf."  
  
Lister began to laugh. "No really man, what does the scanner say." He plopped back in his chair and put his feet up.  
  
"That's what it says, sir… Wait a minute, this is quite peculiar." Kryten began to fiddle with the buttons again.  
  
Lister, just recovering from his laughing fit looked up now. "Give it up, Kryte. Nothing could top your last joke. Finally you are beginning to get a sense of humor!"  
  
"No, Mr. Lister! I am serious!"  
  
"Oh spit it out already Kryten before I knock both of you over the heads!" Shouted Rimmer, more pissed off then usual.  
  
"We have been in this part of space before, sirs. Doesn't it look familiar?"  
  
"No Kryten, its black with a bunch of twinkly bits!" Shouted Lister, realizing Kryten was serious.  
  
"Mr. Lister sir, this is about where we were met up with the despair squid, right before we lost Red Dwarf." Kryten explained.  
  
"Really?" Asked Lister, getting up again to look at the scans, pretending he understood. "Um… Maybe I should go and get Kochanski…"  
  
"Sir, is that really necessary?" Asked Kryten, wrinkling his synthetic nose.  
  
~  
  
Olivia had just fallen asleep and Kristine was sitting with her nose in a book on her bunk. She idly flipped the page, her mind not completely on the novel.  
  
There was a soft knock on the door.  
  
Kristine looked up towards the door, sighed, and got up. "Open"  
  
At the door was Lister. "What is it, Lister. I'm not in the best mood." She mumbled.  
  
"We need you in the drive room." he whispered.  
  
"This better be good."  
  
~  
  
"Well, the scans say that the weather down there is a beautiful, not a cloud in the sky. I suggest we dress for snow and head down there." Said Kristine  
  
The others nodded.   
  
Kristine walked back to her room and looked over at Olivia, fast asleep. Kristine knew waking her would not be a good idea considering how she had felt earlier.  
  
~  
  
Kristine, Cat and Lister all sat in the cramped pod, all dressed in their heavy winter coats, boots and goggles. The wind from the planetoid was roaring just outside.  
  
"So much for beautiful tropical temperatures." Lister Groaned  
  
"Its kinda blowy." said the Cat, while combing his hair.  
  
Kristine gave him a smug look. "Its an electric storm."  
  
The Cat struggled to open the door against the wind. The minute the door was opened, the roar became unbearably loud and it took the strength of the three of them just to prop the door open long enough for the Cat to get outside.  
  
Kristine silently looked over at Dave once the door was sealed.  
  
Dave stared back at her. "So…" He attempted to break the silence between them.  
  
Kristine raised an eyebrow. "So…"  
  
"Um… How's Olivia doing?" He asked. Even with the goggles and heavy coat, Kochanski still looked beautiful to him.  
  
"Not great." She answered.  
  
Lister nodded. "I feel bad for all that's happened since she's been here."   
  
Kristine stayed silent.  
  
"I cannot believe Rimmer spied on her in the shower. You know I would never do that. I'm far too mature." He assured her.  
  
Kristine stared at her strangely. "Mature? Trying to molest her is mature?"  
  
"I was not trying to molest her!" He Shouted.  
  
"Mm-hmm" She replied, looking downwards.  
  
"Kristine… I was just… I don't know. It seemed like the right thing to do, and she didn't seem to mind."  
  
"She certainly seemed to mind when she told me about it!" Shouted Kristine.  
  
Outside the window they could see the Cat's face as he pounded against the door. The two of them struggled to get it open.  
  
"Its impossible out there!" He whined. "I need a comb!" he struggled to pull the comb through his matted hair until he was satisfied.  
  
"So how did it go out there. Did you collect any samples?" asked Kristine.  
  
"Oh yeah." He said, pulling a jar of sand out of his pocket.  
  
Lister took the sand and scanned it with the particle analyzer. "Yep, its sand alright." he assured them.  
  
"Give me that!" shouted Kochanski, grabbing it from his hands. "Its not ordinary sand. The atoms have been engineered."  
  
"From what?" Asked Lister.  
  
"Computer chips, you name it." She answered.  
  
"What are you saying, Kris?" He asked.  
  
She sighed. "you're impossible! I'm saying this planetoid is Red Dwarf!"  
  
"Yeah door-mouse cheeks, pay attention!" said The Cat, looking into his pocket mirror. The Cat put the mirror back in his pocket and struggles with the door latch again.  
  
"Where are you going?" Asked Lister.  
  
"I'm going to need some help! There is tons of stuff out there you might wanna check out."  
  
"Like what?" Asked Lister  
  
"It looks like the storm is dying down. Maybe we should take a look." Said Kristine.  
  
~  
Olivia stirred in her bunk and opened her eyes. How long has she been asleep? She couldn't remember dreaming anything. She slowly got up from the bunk feeling slightly rested. She looked around. Kristine was no longer in the room. Slowly she got up and looked at herself in the mirror. She was a mess. Her long sand colored hair was stringy and unwashed and she was wearing the same jeans and T shirt she had been for the past few days. She couldn't find any more clothes. She couldn't shower now at the risk of being watched again. Maybe Kristine had some clothes she could borrow. Olivia opened the door and ventured out into the cockpit. "Kristine?"  
  
"Miss Angeledis… I mean… Olivia." It was Kryten.  
  
"Kryten… Where's Kristine?" Olivia asked, feeling slightly uncomfortable.  
  
"Oh… well she and the others went down to search a planetoid." Kryten vaguely explained.  
  
"Oh… I was just wondering if there were anymore clothes I could wear."  
  
"I'll see if I can find any, ma'am." He walked off grumpily.   
  
~  
  
"I was beginning to worry, oh, what on earth is this?" Asked Kryten, seeing Cat, Lister and Kochanski return. Olivia sleepily entered the room.  
  
"What's going on in here, I'm trying to revise!" Rimmer shouted as he entered the room. His eyes met Olivia's and she looked away.  
  
"The planetoid is packed with stuff from Red Dwarf, Kryten. Its like a Space Corps garage sale." said Lister.  
  
"I think we got some valuable stuff." The Cat smiled, trying to impress Olivia.  
  
"Cat, you call this valuable? A napkin ring? A motorized tie rack? An inflatable shark?" Kristine lifted the pool toy out of the box and examined it.  
  
"I couldn't see what I was getting!" He defended himself.  
  
Lister reached in the box and pulled out something Olivia thought looked like a watch. "Holly!?"  
  
"All right, dudes?" Came a voice from the watch. Olivia stood there looking confused.  
  
"Holly? What the smeg are you doing here?" Asked Lister.  
  
"Is that really Holly?" Asked Rimmer, taking a closer look.  
  
"Those little Whatsits…" Holly began.  
  
"Nanobots?" Kristine filled in.  
  
"Yeah, that's it. They remolicurised... they remolic... they remol... anyway, they did that word that I can't say to the whole ship, and left all the bits they didn't want on that planetoid!" Holly explained.  
  
"So they just fixed the core program and decided they'd be better off without you?" Lister asked him.  
  
"Yeah, and it was shortly after they'd met me, too."  
  
Olivia just stood at the doorway looking at the crewmates gathered around the watch.  
  
"Holly, Meet Olivia."   
  
"Who's she then?" He asked.  
  
Olivia took a step closer.  
  
"We found her in a stasis pod, She's the newest addition to this crew. Olivia. Meet Holly, Red Dwarf's computer." Lister smiled and shoved the watch in front of her face. On the watch was the image of a bald man who's head was suspended in mid air.  
  
"Hi." Said Olivia, unenthusiastically.  
  
"Gordon Bennett, A girl!" Holly blushed  
  
"She's not the only one, you remember Kochanski?" Lister then shoved the watch in Kristine's face.  
  
"Yes…Hello Holly." She said, rather annoyed.  
  
"Well I'll be. You miss a lot in 200 years, don't you?" Said Holly.  
  
"Olivia, I thought you were asleep." Said Kristine, rather mother like.  
  
Olivia nodded.  
  
"So Kryten, How did all this happen anyway?" Lister asked.  
  
"Well Mr. Lister, while we were on the Esperanto my nanos mutinied and took over the ship. They were bored of me and wanted to explore, and Red Dwarf was far too big, so they took red dwarf and made a sub-version, and used all the other atoms and made that planetoid." He explained.  
  
"Did I miss something?" Asked Olivia.  
  
"So if those little robot micro fleas stole Red Dwarf, then what have we spent years chasing, half eaten lollypop head?" Asked the Cat.  
  
"We were chasing the nano-Red Dwarf, that's why the readings were so minute and hard to pinpoint." Kryten tried to explain.  
  
The Cat just shrugged and continued staring into his mirror. The smile on his face instantly reappeared at the sight of his reflection.  
  
"Where exactly are they now, Kryten? I mean, they could be anywhere." Asked Lister.  
  
"Well sir, the scanners are only programmed to scan outside the ship, so I suspect they are around here somewhere."   
  
Lister's mouth dropped open. "You mean to tell me we've been chasing them for months and living off of fungus grown on spacecrafts, and they have been round here the whole time?" Lister looked as though he was ready to whack Kryten on the head.  
  
Kryten took a few nervous steps backwards. "um… no need to get hostile sir, I'll just reprogram the scanners."  
  
~  
  
Kryten returned minutes later. "Alright, I think we are ready to start the scans." Kryten began to fiddle with his hand held scanning device.  
  
"Anything yet?" Lister asked impatiently.  
  
"Nothing yet... just two pieces of Bombay aloa you dropped several millennia ago down the service ducts, where they appear to evolved a rudimentary intelligence and formed a progressive folk duo. Damn scanner…"  
  
Lister rolled his eyes. "Keep looking."  
  
Kryten continued to fiddle with controls. "Narrowing parameters. Oh... oh my... you were right, sir. I think we've found them."  
  
"Where Krytes?!" Shouted Lister.  
  
"Surprisingly, in your sock basket, Mr. Lister."  
  
"But that should have killed them ages ago!" The Cat wrinkled his nose at even the thought of the aroma of Lister's socks. For Lister, doing laundry meant hitting his socks with a hammer and spraying deodorant on them.  
  
"Kryten, You're telling me that for the last 2 years they have been exploring strange new worlds in my sock basket?"  
  
"Of course! The ship is now so small that, to the nanos, a hole in one of your athletic supports is at least the size of a galaxy!"   
  
The crew quickly rushed into Lister's sleeping quarters, leaving Olivia standing confused in the drive room. Olivia picked up the watch still lying on the scanner table. Holly smiled at her and gave her a wink. "Um… Does this mean we are going to get the ship back?" She asked.  
  
"I hope so." He replied. Was that all he had to say? He was a computer. No technical data or anything, just an 'I hope so'. No wonder no one ever knew what they were doing around here.  
  
"Well maybe then I can get a change of clothes and take a shower without someone spying on me." Olivia mumbled to herself.  
  
"I told them it was a privacy violation to put them cameras in the wash rooms. Oh well, I'll have to take a look myself." Holly winked.  
  
Olivia sighed. She had no energy to be angry. "I'm going back to sleep."  
  
"What, in the middle of this?" Asked Holly.  
  
"Yeah, I should learn how to sleep through all the commotion, sure seems to be a lot of it around here." Olivia yawned.  
  
"You call this commotion? You should have been there when we entered a parallel universe and all met the female versions of ourselves. That was a good laugh." Holly smiled.  
  
Olivia smiled for the first time in days. "You have lots of embarrassing little stories about the crew, don't you?"  
  
"Oh I've got a million of em!"   
  
"Well, we'll have to talk more later then, Holly." She laughed.  
  
~  
  
AN: Damn, 3000 words later and no sign of that little thing called plot. Oh well, More sooner or later now that I have my inspiration back. I apologize for how long its been. All reviews greatly appreciated. 


	9. Chapter 9

AN: yeah… know how I mentioned I had lost all of my first draft of chapter 8? Well I found it, I was angry at first but I think it works better this way.  
  
~  
  
"Heh! Nailed the little blighters! After all the embarrassment they've caused me!" Kryten shouted from Lister's quarters.  
  
"Looks like they got them. What are they anyway, Holly?" Said Olivia.  
  
"They're little microscopic little robots" He tried to explain.  
  
"Yeah… but what do they do?" She asked.  
  
Holly did the best he could to shrug with his suspended head.  
  
Olivia let out a large yawn. She was ready to just collapse on the floor. She set Holly back on the table and wandered back into her quarters and toppled over on her bunk. She was quite annoyed when sleep didn't come.  
  
~  
  
Kryten furiously tapped the little jar that appeared empty with a pencil, letting out some evil laughter. "Can you hear me you pesky little critters?!" He shouted.  
  
Everyone else just stood there watching the mechanoid who had obviously just gone delirious.  
  
"Kryten, are you alright, man?" Asked Lister, taking a step closer.  
  
Kryten ignored. "Now you listen! We want our ship back! Are you receiving me?" Kryten shouted at the jar.  
  
A high pitched noise could suddenly be heard from the jar.  
  
"Nice job, Kryte, I think you got contact." Said Lister.  
  
"They're communicating in machine code, just leave the talking to me!" Said Kryten, staring evilly at the jar. Kryten's mouth curled into an odd wrinkly synthetic smile. "Have you any idea what you've done? Deserting your droid, you've broken every reg in the manual! And to compound matters by stealing our ship, it's unbelievably.. Er... it's unbelievably naughty! Now, listen up, here's the deal, we want that planetoid turned back into Red Dwarf. If you don't, you'll get more of this…" Kryten furiously pounded on the glass with the pencil.  
  
"He's gone insane!" Mouthed the Cat.  
  
~  
  
It was going to take about a week for the Nanos to fully reconstruct Red Dwarf. The next morning Kristine told Olivia the good news. The news cheered her up a little bit, but she still didn't venture out of her quarters very often.  
  
Ignoring everyone and blocking everything out was getting boring. She sat there with her eyes focused on the small print of the novel in front of her, while the small crew worked away in the drive room. The door slowly opened and in walked Kristine. "Hi" She said.  
  
Olivia looked up from the book that she was practically burning holes in. "Hi." She said, glad for the disruption, because she had, in fact, been reading the same page over and over for the last twenty minutes and not even realized it. "Where have you been recently?" Olivia couldn't remember if it had been hours or days since she had seen Kristine.  
  
"Oh here and there…"Kristine looked tired.  
  
"Oh… I'm getting bored. Anything going on? Any news yet on the Red Dwarf construction?" Asked Olivia.  
  
"Its going well. We should be able to board the ship in a few days. As for me, I've been watching vids in the drive room… also I've been trying to get the portal back…" She looked down hiding her sad expression  
  
Olivia had almost forgotten that Kristine was from another dimension. What would happen if Kris left her? She would be all alone. "I'm sorry, you must really miss him." Olivia quietly replied.  
  
Kris didn't respond. "Want to watch a vid with me?" She asked.  
  
Olivia shook her head. "I have something else I should do." She replied.  
  
Kristine nodded. "You know where to find me." She said, as she left the room.  
  
Olivia was glad she had not asked what she needed to do. Olivia wondered herself why she had not taken Kris up on her offer and watched a video. It was probably because her mind was on other things… She sighed. It was time to do this. She hooked up her dream recorder to the vidscreen. She had read the manual earlier. It seemed pretty cool to her that dreams could be recorded, and quite useful, so she had decided to start sleeping with it on every night. She set the date to the night she had dreamed about stasis. That one was the most confusing to her.   
  
Luckily, she had not dreamed much lately. She was glad, she just wanted to take it all in a little at a time. She watched the screen as it zoomed in on her laying in the little stasis pod, 3 million years ago. As the stasis field was lowered she noticed the logo on the side. What had happened? Wasn't she supposed to be monitored or something? Why hadn't she been taken out right after? Why had she ended up here? How was she going to figure all of this out? Maybe she would have to take Kristine's advice and talk to Kryten. What other choice did she have? She struggled to lift her body off the bunk she had been laying on for hours. Her arms felt weak and useless. Finally when she was able to get up, she walked out of the room. She could hear the sound of the washing machine. She turned her body towards the laundry room, quite ungracefully and looked inside. Sure enough, there Kryten was, folding one of Lister's T-shirts. "Kryten?" She said softly.  
  
He turned around. "Oh…Miss-"  
  
"No formalities please, Kryten." She said as politely as she could.  
  
"Oh…" Kryten didn't know what to say.  
  
"Kryten, I was wondering if maybe you could help me out." She asked  
  
"With what, ma'am?" He replied.  
  
"You have a pretty good knowledge of history, right?" She shyly asked.  
  
"Well yes, ma'am. My history chip seems to be working efficiently." He replied. Olivia was glad he was being sensible. There was not much sign of his previous grudge, even though he didn't make eye contact.  
  
"Alright… when did they first invent the stasis field?" She asked, taking a seat on the stool next to Kryten.  
  
"Well, scientists first started experimenting with it in 2006 in secret. First they tested it out on plant life and some lab rats and insects. There were many problems at first…"  
  
"2006? That's when I just got out of high school!"  
  
Kryten glared at her for interrupting. "It was first intended originally to preserve organs, it was much better and safer then just irradiating them."  
  
"Yeah, but when did they start testing it on humans?" Olivia impatiently asked.  
  
"Well it doesn't seem to be recorded… I assume there were probably many mistakes made before, because the stasis field was not used until many years after that." He explained.  
  
"Mistakes?" She asked curiously.  
  
"Well yes, Ma'am. Almost no scientific experiment works on the first try."  
  
"Kryten, I… have to figure out when it was tested on humans!" She said, getting up off the stool.  
  
"But why, Ma'am?"  
  
"Because I want to figure out how I got here." She sighed and walked out of the room, shutting the door behind her. She made it back to her quarters and toppled over on her bunk.  
  
"Pause." She heard Kris say from the bunk above.  
  
"Oh sorry." mumbled Olivia.  
  
"Where were you?" Asked Kristine.  
  
"I was talking to Kryten." She replied, looking at the bottom of the bunk above her. Her eyes focused on one little spot.  
  
"About stasis?"   
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Find anything out?"  
  
"Yeah, I did."  
  
"Well?"  
  
"They started experimenting on it when I was in high school. I don't know much more. Why would I go into stasis in the first place? I can't remember any of it." Olivia sighed.  
  
"Well… you know more then before, right?"  
  
"Yeah… maybe I should look up the company." She said blankly.  
  
"What company?"  
  
"I watched my dream recorder. Here look." Olivia quickly hooked it up to the monitor again and set it. She played the entire thing which was no longer then a few minutes.  
  
"Are you sure that's all accurate? I mean, after all its just a dream." Kris stared at the screen as it went blank, showing that Olivia had woken up.  
  
"I think it is…"  
  
~  
  
The pub was nearly empty. The overhead lamp flickered, threatening to inflict darkness. Olivia stepped into the room. The floorboards creaked with every step. The sound seemed to be amplified. Her pockets were nearly empty, but she took a seat at the counter anyway. She knew she couldn't afford anything except maybe a cheap glass of beer, which was no real solution.  
  
"What can I get you?" asked a man with a strong southern accent.  
  
Olivia looked up, showing her dirty, worn out face in the dim light. "Do you mind if I just sit here? I don't have anywhere to go."  
  
"How old are you, young lady?"  
  
"22..." She said softly. She probably looked too young to be in here. She got that a lot.  
  
"Sure." He said softly, then walked over to the back.  
  
She sighed. Maybe a cheap beer would be good for her right now. No, that would help nothing. She knew what she needed.  
  
~  
  
Olivia stirred in bed. Her eyes opened and she stared at the ceiling. Kris was laying asleep in the bunk above. Each time she dreamt it seemed to make less and less sense. She shut her eyes, but sleep wouldn't come again, so she walked over to the kitchen. As she walked in she noticed Arnold sitting over at the table. He had seen her, she couldn't go back now.   
  
"Hi. Can't sleep?" He asked shyly.  
  
Olivia noticed he looked upset. Probably had something to do with her. She sat down at the other end of the table. "Not really." She said softly.  
  
"Oh." He said nodding. "Well… I'll.. Leave you alone I guess." he said quickly, while getting up and going towards the door.  
  
"No, you don't have to leave because of me." She said, motioning for him to sit back down.  
  
Arnold awkwardly sat back down.  
  
Olivia was too tired to say anything or keep her mind from wandering off. She just sat there and silently stared out into space. Every few seconds Arnold would look over at her. Tears formed in the corners of her eyes. She didn't want to cry. Not here. Against her will they fell from her eyes like raindrops hitting the table. More followed running down her cheeks. She tried to hide it.  
  
"Olivia?" he said in response, knowing he was pushing his luck trying to talk to her.  
  
Olivia sighed. "I keep having them." She said, before her scattered mind could stop her.  
  
"Having what?" He asked. He really did seem to be listening and care.  
  
"Dreams…They make less sense every time. I am just so confused." There was a long silence. Arnold looked into her eyes. They finally made eye contact. Olivia felt a rush going through her body. Her muscles seemed to tense up and her heart beated faster. 'No!' Shouted her inner dialogue. 'You know you can't trust him!' Olivia looked down.  
  
"Was it… the same one as last time?" He nervously asked.  
  
She knew it wasn't a good idea to tell them about that. How did he find out anyway? Lister probably told him. She shook her head. "I was in a pub or something. I didn't have any money."  
  
Soon their little moment alone was interrupted by Kris. She sleepily walked in, covered with a blanket. "There you are, Olivia. Sorry, just came in to get a pot of cottage cheese with pineapple chunks." She said while opening up the fridge.  
  
"Maybe I should go. I only came in here because Lister was playing his guitar again." Said Rimmer.  
  
"Oh god…" mumbled Kris. Taking her cottage cheese and a spoon back into her quarters.   
  
Olivia stared as Rimmer got up and walked out of the room. Was it just her or was that not such a bad few minutes with him? Olivia wished things hadn't been so awkward between them. Sure he had been spying on her, but he was a male. She just didn't like the idea of being without clothes. She wasn't that comfortable with her body. Must have had something to do with the events of her dream. Olivia slowly followed Kris back to her own quarters.  
  
"Can't sleep?" asked Kris.  
  
"No…" She replied.  
  
Kristine took another bite of her cottage cheese.  
  
"I kind of want to… never mind…" Olivia started.  
  
"No, what is it!"  
  
"I guess I should just forgive Arnold for what he did. I can't stand not talking to anyone else." She rested her chin in her hands. She felt like crying again, but resisted.  
  
"Well he isn't exactly someone who you would want to be friends with." Mumbled Kris.  
  
"Yes, Lister has told me all about him. I guess he just doesn't seem that way to me."  
  
"Do you fancy him or something?" Kristine asked.  
  
Olivia thought for a moment. "I think I might have before…" She mumbled.  
  
Kristine gasped. "Really!? But…but…Its Rimmer!" She made a gagging noise.  
  
Olivia laughed. "Maybe not. I don't know anymore, He kind of pisses me off now."  
  
Kristine laughed. "Just wait until you get to know him. You will soon hate him like the rest of us."  
  
"Yeah…" Olivia laid back down on her bunk. She didn't seem to believe Kris. She was now pretty awake and sleep was not coming, so she got out of her bed and walked back over to the kitchen, suddenly feeling nervous. No one was there. Olivia slowly walked towards Rimmer and Lister's quarters where she could soon hear the dreadful noises of Lister trying to play the guitar. She could hear footsteps from behind her.   
  
"Olivia?"   
  
She quickly darted around. It was Rimmer. She didn't know what to say.  
  
"Sorry for scaring you…I thought you were in your quarters."  
  
"I can't sleep." She took a step closer. Suddenly she didn't want to say anything. Since when had talking been such a challenge?  
  
"Me neither. Especially with Lister creating that hellish noise."  
  
Olivia stood there frozen for a few moments. Her silence made Rimmer nervous again. He awkwardly shoved his hands in his pockets and began to look around the room.  
  
Olivia took a deep breath. "I just wanted to say…"  
  
Arnold head darted back towards her as she spoke.  
  
"That… That I…I forgive you." She finally got it out.  
  
"You do?"  
  
She nodded.  
  
He took a few moments to take in what she had just said. He couldn't think of anything to say.  
  
Neither could Olivia. They both awkwardly stood there. Olivia searched her mind for something to say… anything! Before she had a chance to he spoke.  
  
"I'm sorry that I did that. I don't know what I was thinking..."  
  
Olivia shrugged. "Well you're human." Part of Olivia wanted to leave this awkward moment and part of her wanted to stay and talk to Arnold, She just didn't know which to follow at this moment. It was probably about 3 or 4 in the morning right now. Neither one of them noticed when the horrible music stopped playing and Lister stepped out into the hallway.  
  
"Oh, Hi Olivia." He smiled chirpily.   
  
"Hi… I should go." She quickly hurried off to her quarters. Once she was inside Kris looked up from the empty pot of cottage cheese and right at her.  
  
"You did it, didn't you?" She mumbled.  
  
Olivia nodded.  
  
"Smeg! Now he'll be bothering you again and everything."  
  
"I don't really want to be his friend. I just don't want things to be so awkward if I am going to be living with him." She explained.  
  
"I guess…"  
  
~  
  
The entire crew all sat in the cockpit of Starbug, all excited. The Nanos had finally finished reconstructing Red Dwarf and they could now land inside.  
  
"I hope it all still smells the same, I might have to reclaim all my things!" Said the cat from the steering wheel.   
  
Starbug began to get closer to the massive ship. It was the biggest thing Olivia had ever seen.  
  
"This thing is even bigger then I remember!" Exclaimed the Cat. The Cat piloted the ship into the docking tunnel.  
  
"Look out Cat!" Shouted Lister, pointing to an already parked Starbug. The other Starbug was enormous.   
  
The Cat quickly maneuvered the ship around it. "Something strange is going on." The Cat quickly turned a corner into a corridor.  
  
"Starbug appears to be expanding!" Shouted Kryten.  
  
"Its not Starbug that's expanding, its Red Dwarf that's shrinking!" Shouted Kristine.  
  
Olivia held on tighter to her chair. "Figures something would go wrong." She said loud enough for just Kristine to hear her.  
  
"Were being sucked into a vent!" Shouted the Cat, as they flew through the metal netting and began to fly through the air ducts.  
  
"This must have something to do with the nanobot's molecular process." Said Kryten.  
  
Soon everyone was franticly screaming as Starbug increased speed and decreased in size.  
  
"We're going to get crushed to death!" Screamed Lister.  
  
"There may be a way through this if we take a detour. Past Epsilon 14 and take a right at the hydro unit. We'll save about two minutes!" Shouted Kristine.  
  
The Cat quickly took her advice.  
  
"We're almost there! Hang on!" Shouted Lister.  
  
"Brace yourself for impact!" Shouted Kryten, as Starbug smashed through another vent. Olivia was nearly thrown out of her chair, but managed to keep holding on. This crash was followed by many others until finally it stopped.  
  
"Well, we lost the midsection, but we're alive." Said Lister.   
  
They all rushed out of the cockpit that looked as if it was about to erupt in flames. Standing next to the remains of their Starbug and an enormous crash scene were 2 people wearing yellow bio suits. 


	10. Chapter 10

Olivia sat in uncomfortably in the small chair in the Captain's office. In front of her sat the obese captain of the ship. His uniform seemed to be several sizes too small causing the extra skin on his neck to puff out. His skin was rough and he looked slightly sunburned. Olivia had trouble making eye contact with him. It was the first time in weeks she had seen someone other then her crew mates. The Captain cleared his throat causing Olivia to tense up.  
  
"I'm Captain Hollister." He proudly stated, reaching out a hand.   
  
Olivia shyly shook it.  
  
"And you are?" He asked curiously, raising a bushy eyebrow.  
  
"Olivia…"  
  
The Captain nodded and cleared his throat again as if he was trying to rid his throat of phlegm. Olivia couldn't help but cringe a little.  
  
"Well…Olivia…" he seemed to be mocking her a little bit. "I would be interested in knowing how an unregistered crew member like yourself somehow ended up in a JMC owned vessel."  
  
"Um… That's a long story." She said, while looking down at the floor.  
  
"Indulge me."  
  
"Before that, can I ask what's going to happen to the others?" She asked.  
  
"Who?"  
  
"You know…Arnold, Dave, Kristine, Kryten and the Cat." She focused all her attentions on her hands instead of the Captain.  
  
Captain Hollister began to get irritated with her lack of respect for him. "They will all be tried, as will you, unless I get some information from you."  
  
"Well I showed up in a stasis pod-"  
  
"Wait a minute, why was I not informed of this?" he demanded.  
  
"Um… because you weren't alive…"  
  
He stared at her as if she had just said that she was possessed by circus clowns.  
  
"Wait… you mean you don't know what happened?" Suddenly she began to catch on to what was going on. He didn't know that he had just been resurrected and was 3 million years into the future, and frankly Olivia didn't want to be the one to tell him, but who else could? She was the only one around that knew, except for the others, but where were they when she needed them?  
  
The confused stares from the captain continued.  
  
Olivia sighed. "I am not completely sure of the story… I was only just told myself a little while ago and I scarcely believed it…" Olivia tried as best she could to repeat the story Kryten had told her the first day she arrived on this ship.  
  
Now the captain was staring as if those circus clowns had just appeared from thin air and set her hair on fire. "You expect me to believe that?" he snorted.  
  
Olivia looked down at the floor.  
  
He continued manically laughing.  
  
"It's the truth!" She tried to redeem herself.  
  
The Captain finally gained control. "Olivia… Have you ever heard of a mind scan?" he asked.  
  
She shook her head.  
  
The captain handed her some papers. "I'll have someone escort you to a spare quarters for the night. I expect you to read and sign these. You and the rest of your little crew will meet with me tomorrow morning. Dismissed." The captain continued to giggle as Olivia got up from her chair. Before she reached the doorknob, it began to turn and the door opened. A male figure stood before her.  
  
"Ah, Mr. Todhunter… please escort this young lady to a spare technician's quarters."  
  
Olivia looked up catching the man doing a quick salute and pulling her out the door. Her eyes focused on his face. She has seen it many times before! With this realization her stomach quickly became red hot with adrenaline. It was him! The man from her dreams! The face that always appeared. The face she had associated with fear. It had haunted her since she got here. Here was the figure in which that face belonged to standing before her, clinging on to her arm. Her heart beated faster. Was that really him, or was her mind just fooling her?  
  
"Follow me." He said forcefully.  
  
Same voice! Olivia stood still, nearly in shock at this.  
  
After several attempts of getting her to move Todhunter forcefully pulled at her arm getting her to move, dragging her to a lift.  
  
She had to get away from him! He soon pulled her into the empty lift. Not a place she wanted to be with him! He was still tightly clinging on to her arm. Olivia was too frightened to move. Once the lift door opened she just wanted to rush out as fast as she could, but her body didn't allow her, it was in frightened deer mode.  
  
Todhunter sighed and dragged her out of the lift and down one of the hallways. Olivia's legs still did not allow her the power to run or anything. She just wanted to get away! The fear paralyzed her. Finally at the end of the hallway, Todhunter opened one of the metal doors. Finally he let go of her and handed her the papers the captain had given her.  
  
"I'll see you in the morning." he said, giving her a peculiar smile.   
  
Finally, after what seemed like ages, he walked away. "Close!" Olivia squealed franticly. The door did as instructed. Olivia rushed over to the small bunk and toppled over on it, clinging to the small pillow, tears streaming from her eyes. She was in trouble! Of all the people that that could have been, why had it been him? For the first time in weeks Olivia really felt her brain was alert. Her mind was flooded with unfamiliar thoughts. Not just pure fear, but she was retrieving memories! She continued to cling to the pillow and breath heavily. Kryten had told her that a reminder of her past might retrieve her memory, well that was a reminder of her past. That was it. He was the one who turned her life into the hell it was. He was the reason she had retrograded herself and became devoured by fear every day.  
  
~  
  
In all her fear and panic, Olivia had forgotten to read the papers given to her. She checked the small clock. It was 8 am. She must have eventually fallen asleep last night. Her stomach churned as she remembered what had happened and she was instantly filled with the same fear as the previous evening. She quickly grabbed a Space Corps pen and signed her name sloppily on the papers. He was coming to get her, and soon.  
  
Right on cue her door opened. There he stood. He hadn't even knocked first. It was as if Olivia has been hit with an arrow, because she automatically became alert at his presence.  
  
"Well Miss Angeledis, its time for your meeting with the captain. I trust you have looked over the papers." he had an odd tone in his voice that made her shiver. She managed to nod. Instead of allowing him to drag her again she cautiously rose from her bunk and began to follow him. What choice did she really have? This time the lift was not empty, which gave her some comfort. They soon reached the captain's office again. Todhunter held the door open for her.  
  
Olivia looked inside his office, It was not as empty as it was the day before, but there sat Arnold, Lister, Kristine, The Cat and Kryten. She took a sigh of relief as the door shut behind her and Todhunter didn't enter.  
  
"Well Miss Olivia, have you reviewed the papers?" Asked the captain.  
  
She nodded and handed them to him and sat next to Kristine, who automatically noticed the look of panic upon her face. Kristine looked at her with a concerned expression but remained silent.  
  
"So, you are all familiar with the mind scan?" Asked the Captain.  
  
"Yes sir, we are." Lister replied.  
  
"Alright then, please sign those papers and seal them in the envelope provided." Said Captain Hollister.  
  
~  
"Well Miss Angeledis… Until this trial is over you will be working in the kitchen washing dishes."  
  
Olivia wondered how he had found out her last name, as she had never told him. "Yes sir." She mumbled, not very happy about this.  
  
"I expect you to be in the kitchen tomorrow at 8 am. Dismissed."  
  
Olivia got up from the chair. She had finally been able to change her clothes and get a good shower. She was borrowing some of Kristine's clothes.  
  
~  
  
Olivia stood in the kitchen the next morning, hands covered in suds, scrubbing dishes from the breakfast in the officer's mess hall. They had the expensive fancy dishes that all had to be hand washed. It never stopped! By the time she would be finished with these, the lunch dishes would be ready. The other people in the kitchen all seemed to know each other and be carrying on a conversation. They had not been very welcoming to Olivia. She sighed and picked up another plate out of the sink of suds and began to scrub.  
  
"Did you hear about Rimmer?" One of the women said.  
  
Olivia looked up in their direction.  
  
"He is so sexy! Did you hear, he shagged McGruder last night!"  
  
"Not only that, but I heard he fooled around with some of the officers last night in the cargo bay."  
  
Olivia was so shocked that she dropped the plate she was scrubbing it, shattering it all over the floor. Were they talking about the same Rimmer? The Rimmer she had recently seen in a quite embarrassing blackmail video tape revealing him quite pathetically, yet adorably whining over how he had never been loved?   
  
The other women stared at Olivia and the broken dish she hadn't even seemed to notice. Finally she realized they were staring at her and quickly crouched down to pick it up. That was so strange! Why were women suddenly interested in him? That thought bothered her a little. The other woman began to talk, this time quieter so Olivia could not hear them but every so often she would hear his name come up, and every time it made her a little more anxious.   
~  
  
"Lister, what are we going to do? If we don't find those nanos no one will ever believe our story! I'll go to the brig and never become an officer!" Whined Rimmer  
  
Lister sighed. "Look Rimmer, you never _were_ going to be an officer, and you were the one swigging down the sexual magnetism virus and sleeping with half the crew instead of working on our case!" Lister Cringed at the thought.  
  
A big smile arose on Rimmer's face. "Ah yes."  
  
"You disgust me, Rimmer!"  
  
"You couldn't honestly tell me you wouldn't do the same thing given the opportunity to bonk Kochanski, Listy."  
  
Lister's eyebrows rose. "Um… can I see that for a moment?"  
  
"No! I had it first!" He said, shoving the little red vile behind his back.  
  
Without warning, Lister dove on top of Rimmer, struggling to grab the vile. Then for the first time, he noticed Rimmer's body. It was the same as it had always been, but Lister couldn't help think it was a little more, well, sexy. Below the tan shirt, lean muscles rippled in the struggle. Lister gazed lustfully into Rimmer's eyes. Rimmer looked back at Lister, feeling more than a bit uneasy. The instant the thougths entered Lister's mind he dove backwards, screaming and hitting himself repetitively in the head, not believing he had actually thought that.  
  
"Rimmer! How much of that did you take?!" He shouted, refusing to look at him.  
  
Before either of them could say anything more, the hand held scanner began to beep. Lister, looking for a distraction, instantly rushed over to look at what was going on. "Brilliant, man!"  
  
"What?"  
  
"The scans are detecting the nanobots!"  
  
The 2 of them spent the next hour searching frantically in every corner of the room for the little robots.  
~  
  
Several days later, after their case was reviewed, the Captain, after reviewing the nanobots as evidence, realized that their story was true, as hard as that was to believe, and they were all allowed to go free. Lister and Rimmer went back to Z shift, and Kochanski went back to being an officer. Kryten also became a part of Z shift, and the Cat was having several tests run on him. As for Olivia, she was given a part time job in the Science department.  
  
Olivia timidly sat on top of her bunk, wearing a beige space corps uniform. She thought she had it hard when she was on Starbug with the crew, but this felt worse than anything. She was still confused about why she had been so jealous of other people sleeping with Rimmer. It was…well… Rimmer. Her mind was in a constant panic and nothing seemed to be going right for her. She was retrieving more of her memory. It started to come back after seeing Todhunter. First small details of her life, then more. The memories of her life weren't pleasant. She could remember earth. Her in her early twenties. All her friends were succeeding in the real world. That's when her depression had started. It wasn't anything serious at the time, but enough for her to start sessions with a therapist. After leaving college and losing the structure in her life, nothing felt the same for her. She just wanted that back.   
  
She had always been interested in science. When she was younger she always was reading scientific magazines and journals, or checking out new electronics. During the time of her depression she happened to come across a new scientific advancement, The stasis field. This fascinated her. She wanted to know everything about it. For the next few months she continued on with her odd obsession for the stasis field until finally she came across the opportunity to work in a lab testing it. She had become part of a small research team working with it. After months of testing, her team, thinking they had been successful, wanted to test it out on a human. Olivia had been one of the most dedicated ones on the team, so she had volunteered. Her team was not sure if this was smart, but decided to go ahead with the test anyway.   
  
The next thing Olivia could remember she had woken up in a strange place. Something had gone wrong. No one in this place knew what had happened, and as much as Olivia tried to find out why the test hadn't worked, there was nothing. She was hundreds of years from her time period and on a strange planet. The planet was called Mimas. She had eventually gotten used to Mimas and started a fresh start at life, until it happened.  
  
That was all she could remember. Olivia still didn't know how she had ended up here.  
  
In the last few days Olivia had not seen the others much except for the trial. She had not told any of them about her encounter with Todhunter. She wanted to tell Kristine, and also knew Kristine had been sensing her fear the entire time. She was almost too scared to venture out of her quarters, but she had to for her job training, and to eat, but that was about it.  
  
~  
  
Olivia laid on her bunk in the middle of the night, finally allowing sleep to come. It hadn't been easy to sleep for awhile, but she was exhausted. Finally, her eyes shut and her body drifted off into sleep. She was too asleep to hear the creaking of the floorboards moments later. She rolled over on her bed, eyes opening for a moment. Above her bed was the figure of a man lingering over her. Olivia screamed at the top of her lungs. He was holding something, but it was too dark to see what it was. Her heart raced and she was once again in frightened deep mode. This time nothing happened. He was gone faster then she had seen him. She knew right away who it had been.   
  
"Lights!" She finally shouted. The bright blinding lights flashed on. Olivia saw that her quarters was empty. She knew she had seen what she saw! She hugged her arms around her knees and sat like that for the rest of the night.   
  
Once it was finally morning, she pulled on her uniform. She was almost too tired to stand up, but she had to go to her job training. While walking down the halls she passed by Kochanski.  
  
"Olivia!" She said.  
  
Olivia looked up, but said nothing.  
  
"Oh my gosh you look exhausted!"  
  
Olivia was a little timid to tell her why.  
  
"Olivia, what's going on?" Kristine finally demanded.  
  
Olivia knew she had to tell her. "Can we talk about it in my quarters?" She asked  
  
"Sure." Kristine agreed.  
  
The walked back down the hall in silence until reaching her quarters. Olivia sat down on her bunk.  
  
"Olivia, you look terrible! What's the matter?" Kristine asked again.  
  
"My memory." She mumbled.  
  
"You mean you're getting it back?"  
  
Olivia nodded. "It's not just that though."  
  
"I'm listening."  
  
"That one officer that escorted me to my quarters after I met with the captain.., he looks so familiar. I am almost certain it was the guy from my dream."  
  
"But that makes no sense…"  
  
"Yes it does, because I was testing out one of the new stasis pods back in my time, and something happened and I had ended up on Mimas, 200 years later."  
  
"That's really strange… Who was the officer?"  
  
"I can't remember his name."  
  
Kristine nodded. "If anything happens you let me know. You need to get to work!"  
  
Olivia nodded. She had not told her about him being in here last night. Would she really even believe her?  
~  
  
AN: Wow... Plot! To be continued... 


	11. Chapter 11

Olivia sat in her uncomfortable computer chair at her small desk. Her job was rather boring. She had just gotten through an hour of being lectured, and now was sitting there. Her boredom almost made her forget her undying fear that had made a temporary home inside her. It was quite ridiculous. Whenever there were footsteps coming from the hallway, or the floorboards creaked, she would become alert. Her heart would race and she would breath heavily, then realize that she was panicking over nothing and temporarily calm down. She had not seen that officer since the first day she had been here, but that did not matter. Every time she drifted off to sleep, every time she zoned off at work, his face would appear more vivid than ever. It was almost tattooed in her mind.  
  
Olivia was beginning to get used to her constant fear as a daily event and was beginning to accept it, since she could not think of anything to do about it. Telling Kris about it had not helped her the way she wished it had. It only had resulted in Kris checking up on her constantly and making sure she was ok. Olivia would always lie and assure her she was fine. She decided that keeping her problems to herself was a better idea then sharing them with the crew, for the fear of looking totally crazy. After what she had told the captain, everyone already thought she was nuts even though her story had proven to be true. She had been very anti-social since she had gotten here. More reason for people to think she was mentally disturbed.  
  
She could hear footsteps from around the corner and once again she was alert. This had become a constant occurrence and she wanted to scream at herself for reacting this way, instead she just swallowed her fear and kept her eyes closely on the corner, ready for whoever was coming.  
  
Olivia watched as a metal cart full of tools came from the corner down the corridor, being pushed by Rimmer. Olivia sighed in relief. She was slightly uneasy around him, but knew he was harmless, which gave her great comfort. She had not allowed herself to trust in anyone since she got here.  
  
Rimmer remained silent after seeing her sitting at the desk. His cheeks flushed a mild shade of pink as he opened up the vending machine stationed across from her. "Um… needs more crunchy bars." He mumbled, mostly to himself.   
  
Olivia looked down at her desk, covered in fun size crunchy bar wrappers. She had been eating them to relax herself. She allowed herself a small smile. "Thanks, I'll be needing those."  
  
Rimmer timidly turned his face from the machine to Olivia, seeing her pale cheeks and desk full of candy wrappers. He began to get concerned. "Is everything okay?" he asked her.  
  
Olivia was glad that he cared how she was doing. She had not had any connection with another human for days unless she counted Kris, who was just acting too protective over her lately. "Well…" She paused, unable to say anything.  
  
Rimmer could tell she was not ok. It didn't take a rocket scientist to see this. What could he do. Rimmer stood there fidgeting with the tools in his hand. Once again he found it hard to talk to Olivia, just like the last time. The words she had said to him crossed his mind again. How she forgave him. He didn't deserve to be forgiven by her. That was really the last time they had talked. "This is a nice job you have…" He said, attempting to change the subject. In a way he was envious. She had been given a nice job right away. Well maybe not _nice_, but certainly better then his own.  
  
"Its okay…" She hesitantly mumbled.  
  
Rimmer's cheeks grew pinker. He had never been good at talking to people unless he was insulting them, and he had no intention of trying to insult her. He wanted to talk to her. Really talk to her, but could not think of a single thing to say, so he turned his head back to the machine, feeling slightly humiliated.  
  
Olivia looked down at her desk. She needed some company. She needed to get her mind off her problems, she needed to talk to him! She decided to ask the only thing she could think of. "Um… Rimmer…"  
  
He turned his head back at her.  
  
"While we were in the AR machines… When I was washing dishes.. I heard the other women talking about you."  
  
Rimmer gulped.  
  
"They mentioned something about you sleeping with officers. Is that true?" She asked. She regretted saying that as she saw his cheeks brighten, but she had been very curious.  
  
He stood there silent, feeling more humiliated. She had found out about it. Him taking the sexual magnetism virus and seducing the entire crew. Lister included. That moment on, after being pounced on by Lister, he had stopped taking it. Even with all the fantastic sex, he never wanted to be pounced on by Lister again!  
  
"You don't have to tell me." She finally said, looking back down at her desk.  
  
Rimmer gulped again. "It…It…I took a sexual magnetism virus." He finally blurted out. Even with how embarrassing that was, he didn't want to lie to her.  
  
Olivia began to laugh. "Really?"  
  
Rimmer was glad he got a smile out of her. "Yeah, I stopped after Lister started to seduce me."  
  
Olivia continued to laugh, glad for the distraction from her mind.  
  
Rimmer felt a little more at ease that she was laughing at his embarrassing secrets. At least he had gotten her to laugh.  
  
Olivia began to collect the wrappers and got up and threw them away in the garbage bin attached to his cart. She soon realized that she was standing about a foot away from him, and her pale, fear stricken face was clearly visible.  
  
Rimmer sighed. "Will you tell me what's going on?" He asked her.  
  
This surprised her a little bit. He was normally not so forceful about getting her to talk to him, and seemed less timid then moments previously. She didn't know whether or not she could tell him, or if she was even able to tell him. Her mind had been fully on guard since she had gotten here. She was again unable to speak.  
  
"I somehow thought being around people would make you happy… It doesn't look like it." Said Rimmer  
  
This surprised her even more. "Well…you see… Its complicated…" she was able to say. That did not help the conversation much.  
  
Rimmer continued to stare. He was on a roll! "Will you tell me?"  
  
Tears filled her eyes. She would have to tell him. It seemed safe, and he really wanted to know. "I don't want to talk about it here."  
  
"How about I meet you here during my lunch break and we can go somewhere else?" He suggested.  
  
She nodded. Her lunch break was in about an hour.  
  
Rimmer quickly restocked the vending machine and walked down the hall to the next.  
  
~  
  
Rimmer and Olivia walked in silence down the hall until reaching her quarters. Olivia sat down on her bed. Rimmer nervously sat down on a chair at the other side of the room. The mechanical door squeaked closed.  
  
"Rimmer… You remember the dream I had?" Olivia asked.  
  
He nodded.  
  
"I know this is hard to believe… but the person in my dream is here… on this ship." She slowly managed to say.  
  
Rimmer's eyes instantly widened. "On this ship? But, how is that possible, you were born hundreds of years before any of us!"  
  
"It is possible… After seeing him I started getting more of my memory back." Olivia explained to him about ending up on Mimas 200 years later.  
  
Rimmer was speechless. He sat there staring at Olivia for moments, but she could not look back at him. "Who is it?" He asked.  
  
"Some officer… he escorted me to my quarters after meeting with the captain." Tears formed in the corners of her eyes, and began dripping down her face. She had not told anyone about him appearing in her quarters. She wanted to tell him.  
  
Rimmer began to get nervous around her tears. Then again, why shouldn't she cry? She was scared out of her mind! The thought occurred to Rimmer that he was alone in a girl's sleeping quarters. A very attractive girl. He looked up at Olivia's small body.  
  
"There is something else… I didn't even tell Kris." She sniffled.  
  
"I'm listening."  
  
"He… He was in here the other night. I know it. Trying to hurt me. I woke up and saw his figure above me. He was gone as soon as I turned on the lights, but I know it was him!"  
  
Rimmer's mouth began to open wide. "You have to tell the captain this!"  
  
"No! I can't! He thinks I'm crazy! He'll never believe me! You have to promise me you won't tell anyone this!"   
  
Rimmer had no clue what to say now. This had been the last thing he expected to be the matter. "What if you get hurt?" he managed to ask.  
  
Olivia sat there for a moment. She had expected this all along. "Just don't tell! Not even Lister!"  
  
"Does Kris know?"  
  
"Sort of."  
  
Rimmer was a little surprised that he was the first person she had really told.  
  
"So, you won't tell?" She asked.  
  
He slowly nodded. He wondered if he would be sorry for making this promise to her later. "Just be careful." he warned her.  
  
They didn't talk much for the remainder of the lunch break. Rimmer offered to buy her something to eat, but she refused. Slowly she walked back to her job. Rimmer watched her as she walked down the hallway. He still could not believe what he was told. Why had he promised to not tell anyone? He wanted to do something about this! He felt some compelling need to do nice things for her so she would like him and he didn't know why. It seemed what she thought of him made all the difference. She was the only person he would ever even think of helping without something in it for himself. Why was that, anyway? Perhaps because she didn't want to puke all over him. Maybe it was because she didn't really know what a smeg head he was because she had never been a part of the crew before. He began to get anxious. What if she listened to the rumors about him and started to hate him like everyone else?  
  
~  
  
Olivia sat in her sleeping quarters in late evening. Everyone else was probably in the crew mess hall, but she felt no need to eat anything. All she had eaten today was a handful of fun size crunchy bars, but it seemed like enough now. She couldn't even think about food. Why had she told him? Sure he had bothered her, and questioned her until she eventually told him, but that's what Kris did too, constantly asked if she was alright, and asked what was going on, but Olivia never wanted to tell her what had really happened. She had told Rimmer, and it didn't take much pestering to get it out of her either. It felt a little bit safer now that someone else knew what had happened, but it also scared her a lot She had not gotten proper sleep in days.  
  
She laid herself down on the bunk. As much as she didn't want to sleep it couldn't be avoided. Fully dressed, she fell asleep.  
  
Hours later, her eyes flickered open to see the same figure that had been there nights previously. She let out a piercing scream, but this time it was too late.  
  
~  
  
"Oh my god! What happened to her?" Olivia could faintly hear a female voice say. She could hear the mumble of another voice, but could not make out what it was saying.  
  
Her eyes slowly flickered open.  
  
"She's awake." Male voice this time.  
  
Finally her brain recognized who was standing above her. It was Lister, Rimmer and Kris, and well, a doctor or something.  
  
"Olivia! What happened to you?" Asked Kochanski, looking terribly concerned.  
  
Olivia raised her head a few inches and took a look at her body. She was covered in blankets so could not see anything, Then she noticed the pain shooting up from her legs and abdomen.   
  
"Olivia, Do you know what happened to you?" Said the doctor.  
  
  
  
Olivia knew. She knew right away. She could remember what happened last night perfectly. She swallowed nervously. She hadn't expected to be actually attacked. Her mind had been preparing itself for something like this with its constant fear, but it actually happening was too much to handle.  
  
"Why isn't she saying anything?" Asked Kris.  
  
The doctor shrugged.  
  
"If you don't mind, I'd like to be alone with her for a moment." Said Rimmer, breaking the silence.   
  
Both Kris and Lister stared at each other in confusion for a few moment.  
  
"Um… I guess so. Come on, Dave." Kris Finally responded, dragging Lister out by his arm.  
  
The doctor also stepped outside the room.  
  
Rimmer sat down in a chair a few feet away from the cot she was laying on. He sighed. "It was him, wasn't it." he said softly. Emotion drained from his voice.  
  
"Yeah." Said Olivia, barley above a whisper.  
  
"What happened exactly?"  
  
Olivia was silent for a few moments. "All I remember was seeing him in by quarters again. I screamed and woke up here."  
  
There was another silence.  
  
"What did happen to me, anyway?" she whispered again.  
  
"I don't think its anything serious… but that's beside the point!"  
  
"I really don't know what to do this time."  
  
"Neither do I." Rimmer wondered if this meant he still had to keep his promise. She had been hurt. The captain had to know about this. "So you still don't know who this guy is?"  
  
She shook her head.  
  
"Olivia, I'm worried!"  
  
"So am I."  
  
The others soon returned to the room, but Olivia didn't want to talk. When she was questioned by the doctor she refused to answer anything. She just laid still on the cot.  
  
~  
  
Rimmer could not concentrate on his job at all. All he could think of was Olivia laying in the medibay. He blamed himself for this for some reason. He knew it wasn't his fault, but he still blamed himself, he wanted to protect her somehow. He wasn't exactly sure how he was supposed to protect her. What was he supposed to do? Someone on this ship was trying to hurt her.  
  
He wondered why he cared so much. It seemed he had some friendship with Olivia. She was the first person… well female that he could really say that about. It was a little strange to him. He liked it though.  
  
AN: I need your constructive criticism, Folks! More to come =) 


	12. Chapter 12

Tears streamed from Olivia's eyes. It was the middle of the night and she was still in the medibay, alone. It wasn't just her mind playing tricks on her; it seemed she really was in danger. He really had been in her bedroom. Part of her, a very small part, doubted herself the entire time, and that drove her nuts, but that was gone now. She had been right all along. Her panic had not been in vain. What could she do now?  
  
A series of deep bruises ran along her legs and abdomen, but nothing too serious. Still, it hurt every time she shifted positions. Part of her wished Rimmer was still in the room talking to her. Talking to him felt safe.  
  
~  
  
Rimmer paced nervously around his sleeping quarters.  
  
"Rimmer, would you go to sleep already!" shouted Lister from his bunk. He emphasized this by chucking a pillow at Rimmer. "You have been pacing like that for hours, man!"  
  
Rimmer turned around to face Lister. "Don't you even care about Olivia?" He said in a sleep deprived mumble.  
  
"Sure I do, but there isn't much we can do." Lister replied, crawling out of his bunk to retrieve his pillow.  
  
Rimmer remembered that Lister didn't know the entire story. "Maybe I should visit her?"  
  
"Let her sleep, man. Like you should be doing! Besides, isn't she still mad at you for spying on her in the shower?" Lister began to laugh.  
  
Rimmer didn't answer. Lister was right; it was too late to visit her.  
  
"Rimmer, stop pacing around like a small furry animal trapped in a cage! You look ridiculous!" Lister mumbled, flipping over in his bunk.  
  
~  
  
The next morning, Rimmer awoke to the bright fluorescent lights of his sleeping quarters attempting to blind him. He rubbed his palms over his eyes, and then noticed Lister wasn't in the room. It was their day off. He hadn't gotten much sleep the night before. He had wanted to review the surveillance tapes of Olivia's room during the attack, but couldn't when Lister was in the room, but now that he was gone. "Holly!"  
  
"Yes Arnold?" Holly's face flashed on the monitor almost instantaneously.  
  
"Look, I know it's not allowed, but can you please show me your black box recording from two nights ago in Olivia's bedroom?" Rimmer asked.  
  
"Wait a minute! I'm not letting you spy on her again! Wait. what was she doing?" Holly raised an eyebrow.  
  
"No! I don't want to spy on her! I want to see who attacked her!"  
  
"I'm sorry, Arnold, those are for the captain and security officers' eyes only." Holly replied.  
  
"Once again I am victim of my cruel fate! So what I am not an officer! At least I tried! Do you know how many times I took that test."  
  
"Sixteen, Arnold."  
  
"Exactly! I have every right to see those tapes, because.because.Smeg! This is all my parents fault! All they cared about were my perfect brothers. They went off to become test pilots and officers, and here I am, a chicken soup machine repair man!" Rimmer whined.  
  
"Oh god, not another guilt trip. If I show you the tapes will you shut up, and promise not to complain for a week?"  
  
"Deal."  
  
The monitor became dark. The figure of Olivia could be seen in the corner bunk. "Can't we make this lighter? Night vision or something."  
  
"That wasn't part of the deal."  
  
"Oh yeah, and its all my teachers fault too. Always yelling at me, beating me."  
  
"Fine, no more!"  
  
Rimmer smiled, at least his horrible childhood memories were good for something. The image on the screen soon became lighter and more visible. "Fast forward to the attack."  
  
Holly began fast forwarding the tape until another figure was visible. "There we go." Rimmer looked closer at the screen. "I can't see him clearly, zoom in!" The picture zoomed in. Soon Olivia's screaming could be heard from the screen as the figure moved in closer. He had something in his hands. Rimmer watched in horror as he began to hit her. Who was this guy? "Holly, do we have any pictures of this guy's face?" Rimmer asked.  
  
"I'm not sure, Arnold."  
  
At that moment, he turned around to face the security camera and Rimmer saw the man directly in the eye. Rimmer let out a huge gasp. "Smegging hell! I can't believe it!" he shouted in horror. He took a deep breath, the realized what this meant. He could finally get revenge. All he had to do was show the tape to the captain and reveal he who had done it, and the person could be in the brig forever. He knew the person on the tape. It was someone to whom he has to kiss up to for years in the hope to become an officer. Frank Todhunter. Rimmer almost smiled, and then remembered his promise to Olivia. He had promised not to tell anyone about this. She had been hurt! He had to tell for her safety.  
  
Rimmer took a deep breath. He wondered what would happen if he told the captain who had done it. The result for him would be good, of course. Someone he hated would be thrown in the brig, and he would most likely be rewarded some how, and Olivia would be safe. Then again, she would be angry at him, and that was difficult to think about. He didn't want anymore reasons for her not to like him. He already betrayed her trust once, how could he do it again? She would hate him for sure. This was different, it had to be. If Todhunter had hurt her once, he could do it again.  
  
"Holly, I need a copy of this tape!"  
  
"Hang on, you can't just keep adding more and more to our deal." Holly protested.  
  
"Are you really going to be like that? After all we've been through?"  
  
"I'm sorry, Arnold, but I refuse to make a copy for you of confidential surveillance tapes."  
  
Rimmer let out a long sigh. He had gotten all he could out of Holly through bribery and whining. "Listen, it's not for me, it's for Olivia. She's in danger and this may be able to save her."  
  
"Well why didn't you say so?" said Holly.  
  
"You'll do it?"  
  
"If anyone asks, the skutters gave it to you."  
  
~  
  
Rimmer nervously paced towards the Captain's office. He gulped, unsure if he could do this. He stopped at the reception's desk. "I need to see the Captain, its urgent!" He shouted, slurring the words together incoherently.  
  
"Excuse me?"  
  
Rimmer refreshed his lungs with a deep breath. "I need to see the captain, its urgent!" He managed to say more coherently.  
  
"I'm sorry, he's in an important meeting." She replied, not seeming to care about anything Rimmer had just previously said.  
  
"Well when will he be out of his meeting?" Rimmer shouted impatiently in his specialty high pitched whiney voice.  
  
The receptionist cringed for a moment and then looked up from her paperwork. "I'm not sure, sir, but you can see him once he is finished." She said, sounding less professional than before. This was followed by her noisily popping her gum.  
  
Rimmer signed and sat down on one of the uncomfortable seats. His leg began to jiggle as if it had been gripped by demonic seizures. He began to chew on his fingernails. He had never been a nail biter, but he needed some kind of annoying habit to emphasize that he was particularly nervous in this situation. Would the captain believe him or would he side with Todhunter. What reason did the captain have to believe him? He was a second technician willing to do anything to be promoted, no matter how drastic. He had in fact, been caught several times trying to pull some kind of promotion scheme on the captain. Todhunter on the other hand, was trustworthy and ranked much higher, not to mention was a friend of the captain's.  
  
There was also Olivia to think about. He wasn't sure she would even understand that he was doing this for her safety. She had just recently forgiven him for his spying antics, anyway. He was surly pushing his luck by doing this. His leg continued its violent jiggling, and his nails were soon chewed to the skin. He simply couldn't take it anymore! He soon found himself running across the little room, nearly tripping on the side table, but still scattering housekeeping magazines everywhere. By the time the receptionist had pulled her attention away from her questionable work, it was too late. Rimmer had barged into the room.  
  
"Captain, we must have a decision. Which loo paper should we put in the officers Lavatories? Double quilted or ultra soft?" asked a tall, skinny officer with a strong accent. He was holding two toilet paper rolls on adjacent fingers. The captain looked puzzled.  
  
"Captain Hollister!" shouted Rimmer.  
  
Both he and the skinny officer looked up immediately.  
  
"Rimmer! I am in the middle of an important meeting! What are you doing here?!" shouted the captain  
  
It took Rimmer a few moments to get over the adrenaline rush from barging in on the captain's meeting to remember what he was going to say. "Yes. I apologize." He stuttered.  
  
The stares continued.  
  
"This is important! This concerns the safety of a crew member."  
  
"Haven't you heard of making an appointment? I'm a busy man." angrily shouted the Captain.  
  
"Yes, I can see that sir, but." Rimmer continued to stutter. His previous bravery now escaped him, and he was once again reduced to pulp.  
  
"Alright, make it quite."  
  
"Well, sir. I have evidence proving who Olivia Angeledis's attacker was." said Rimmer, fishing around in his pockets for the disc containing the surveillance tapes. Finally he pulled it out of his pocket.  
  
The skinny officer took this as an opportunity to leave the room, leaving Rimmer and the Captain alone.  
  
"Make this quick." said Hollister.  
  
"Yes, sir" Rimmer said, as he hurried to get the disk in the vid screen. Soon the nearly black scene in Olivia's sleeping quarters was visible on the screen.  
  
"Rimmer, these are confidential surveillance tapes! How did you get these?"  
  
"Just wait a minute." Soon Olivia's screaming could be heard, and the figure could almost clearly be seen.  
  
The Captain looked nearly shocked as he looked into Todhunter's face on the screen. It was like he didn't want to believe it was true.  
  
Rimmer stood nervously at the Captain's side. He was more interested in the Captain's reaction than what was on the tape. He was even more nervous than before. What if he wasn't believed? What would happen then? Would he be put in the brig for having the confidential surveillance tapes? The room was silent for a few moments.  
  
"Well." Hollister finally spoke. "I suppose. you can have a court hearing. you know, before anything is decided."  
  
"A court hearing, sir?" Rimmer wasn't aware there was such a thing.  
  
"I normally dispense the punishments, but this is a different situation. I'll schedule it for tomorrow afternoon. I expect you, Olivia, and anyone else who may know something about the case to meet here at noon. I'll make sure Todhunter does the same."  
  
"Yes, sir." said Rimmer, followed by a quick salute. He then nervously rushed from the room. He took several deep breaths on his way back to his quarters. That went reasonably well, but he was still worried for Olivia. What was going to happen at her court hearing? What would she think of him telling the Captain? How was he going to tell her? He envisioned several conversations with her in his head, and all her possible reactions, but this didn't help him. He was just going to have to talk to her and tell her. Her court hearing was tomorrow, and if she was to show up she would have to be prepared. He took another deep breath and tried to calm his raging pulse. Finally, he stepped into the lift and hit the button for the Medibay. Waiting, floor after floor, in a nearly empty lift was almost too much for him, but finally it came to the floor he wanted. Rimmer stepped up to the receptionist. "May I see Olivia Angeledis?" he asked.  
  
"Right this way." She replied, getting up from her desk, leading him down a whitewashed hallway. The hallway was as bland as possible. Every door along the way was also white with a small round window in the center. Even the tiles were bland. White with splotches of grey. How was anyone to get better while staying in a place like this? Somehow, Rimmer had not noticed this the last time he was here, or any of the times before that. For some reason now of all times, he was taking the extra few seconds to notice the world around him, and it was bland and dull. The small room that Olivia was in was equally as dull. It had the same white walls, same white and grey tiles, and in the corner a slightly bigger round window looking out to the stars, and a generic cot in the corner of the room where she laid.  
  
After escorting Rimmer inside, the receptionist left the room. Rimmer had entered quietly enough for Olivia not to have noticed. He wasn't sure if she was asleep or not, but just took the silent moment to stare at her. What was his observant mind to notice about her? How pale she looked, how weak and defenseless her body looked? That wasn't what he saw at that moment.  
  
"Rimmer?" she mumbled  
  
This startled him out of his thoughts. "Olivia."  
  
Slowly she positioned her body to sit upright on the cot. She didn't look much better than the previous day. If anything she looked worse. Her injury wasn't bad enough to do this to her, so what was? "What are you doing here?"  
  
"Err...visiting you."  
  
"Oh." she didn't look convinced.  
  
"Are you feeling any better?"  
  
It took her a few minutes to respond. "A little."  
  
Rimmer didn't believe her. "Listen Olivia. I don't want you getting hurt again." Rimmer started.  
  
Olivia looked up at him, not sure how to respond.  
  
"I want to make sure that you don't." he continued. Rimmer didn't know how he was going to tell her. "I want you to be safe."  
  
Olivia sat there motionless.  
  
Rimmer nervously sat down at the edge of her bed a few feet away from her. "So I made sure you would be."  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"I mean. I mean."  
  
"Rimmer, did you tell someone?" she said, suddenly sounding defensive.  
  
With that came a rush of adrenaline for Rimmer. What was he supposed to do now? "I know you didn't want me to. I'm so sorry, but how else would I know you were safe? If I just let him get away with this he could hurt you again!"  
  
"I.I told you not to tell anyone!" her voice sounded as if she were about to cry.  
  
~  
  
Olivia looked down towards her beige sheets and wouldn't look up. She took a long sigh. He had a point, but she still couldn't move. The small room was filled with silence. A silence that would taunt any sane man. She didn't want to see the concern in his eyes.  
  
"I know you're angry at me. but I did this for you." He finally said, his voice almost too soft to hear.  
  
"So what happens now?" she asked.  
  
"Well, tomorrow you have a court hearing."  
  
"A what?!"  
  
"Olivia listen. all you have to do is show up and tell the Captain what happened. It's worth it. I want you to be safe and the only way I know that could happen is if Todhunter is in the brig."  
  
Olivia didn't know what to say. Telling people was what she feared the most, and here he was just telling her she had to do that? It was all so complicated. She also wanted to be safe; this fear was wearing her out. She didn't know what would be worse, living like this or confronting him? What kind of lie would he concoct to protect himself? She was smart enough to know this court hearing would probably not be the end of anything. Sure he meant well, but this was too much!  
  
~  
  
AN: Can I get an overly dramatic "dun Dun DUN!" please? I'll continue soon! 


	13. Chapter 13

Over the past 24 hours, Olivia has reduced Rimmer to an absolute nervous wreck. He wondered in the back of his mind why she was having this effect on him. No other woman had… Even though the answer should have been obvious, no answer was in sight. This was a first for him. He had never extended his empathy beyond himself or things that would directly affect himself. His compassion and caring for her was completely new… It was like discovering an entirely new territory.  
  
Hours ago, he had offered to help her with her case, and she had refused, followed by the closing of her mechanical door. He then spent the next few moments standing outside of her quarters staring at the metal of her door, reflecting. He knew almost nothing about women, so had no idea what to make of what had just happened. Was she angry? Upset? Hurt? A combination of the three? What difference did it make? He screwed up.   
  
Rimmer rested his chin in his hands and sighed loudly. Had he been right or wrong to tell the captain? No possible answer was in sight. All he knew is that he had just gotten the equivalent of a door slam from Olivia, and that couldn't be good.  
  
~  
  
Olivia lay sobbing on her bunk. Wallowing in her own fear and anger. She was too confused to blame it on anyone. Reality had hit her hard this time. Even harder than before, and she could no longer make any decisions. The moment thought would even enter her head it would only contribute to her little sob fest. Any fly on the wall would think she looked quite ridiculous and pathetic, and that she did.  
  
She felt completely helpless. Her mind simply couldn't handle this. It had enough! She didn't necessarily blame Rimmer, but what difference did it make? She had a court hearing tomorrow. What could she possibly say? All the evidence was on the surveillance tapes that Rimmer showed the captain, but was that good enough? No, that had just gotten her here. Sitting in her dark, gloomy sleeping quarters sobbing alone. This seemed to be all she ever did anymore. Sit alone and sulk in fear. Bask in her own melancholy state.  
  
She had had more than enough of reality. It had reduced her from the able person that she used to be…to this. She took a moment to stare at herself in the mirror. This was how she was living. Her cheeks used to be a glowing shade of pink, now ghostly pale. Her eyes that used to shine were now hiding behind a mist or tears. Her hair, unwashed, messily frizzed and curled inconsistently. Her nimble body looked just as weak and helpless as she felt. How had she managed this? How had she, in this short amount of time, managed to turn herself into this…ghost… this skeleton…?  
  
She remembered her time on Starbug with the others. That was when she had Amnesia. She had almost no recollection of her former self. Lucky bitch. If only she had known then what her memory would lead to… she would have savored her oblivion and not searched for any truths. Her curiosity had gotten the better of her. If only she had accepted her state and not tried to change it!   
  
Olivia let out a large sigh and silently toppled back over on her bunk. That was quite unreasonable. She couldn't blame this on her curiosity. There was no one to blame. This was just an unfortunate chain of events. Of enormous coincidences. Life seemed to be full of similar occurrences. Life was never going to stop dealing out its agony no matter how much Olivia kept fighting. She had to face it, life stops for no man…or woman…  
  
"Maybe I give up…" She said aloud to no one in particular. She breathed loudly. "You heard me! I give up!" This time she said it louder. What good did shouting do? It wasn't like someone was going to respond and say 'ok… no more life for you…'. It wasn't like she could just kill herself. Honestly she knew she didn't have it in her to do that. She just needed an escape from reality.   
  
~  
  
Morning came far too soon for Rimmer. He had no idea if he was ready for what today had in store for him. He glared at his reflection in the mirror. He was wearing his ordinary second technician uniform. He wasn't sure if he was even close to ready, or if Olivia was. He hadn't seen her since the door slam last night. He hoped she was ready. It was just the two of them. Rimmer was unable to think of anyone else who could help their case at all. Not even Lister. He was Olivia's only hope. He had absolutely no clue what to expect. When he had gone into the captain's office, he had no idea how scary this would be. He had naively thought that telling would be the hardest part. Well, here he was. Not a smegging clue of what to expect. His mind had nearly wore itself out the previous night as it lay awake, plotting almost every possible occurrence at the court hearing, but what good did that do? He had no idea of what would really happen.  
  
Rimmer stood in front of the mirror for several minutes making adjustments to his appearance. None of the adjustments seemed to make him look any different, but the more he stared the more he felt he needed them. He stood there, compulsively pulling a comb through his hair for the fourth time, then straightening his already straight collar. He did it as if these little adjustments would eventually make him a different person. He stared as an old woman may have, while remembering the beautiful young woman she used to be, longing for its return. That was no good. All the while, the time of the hearing neared closer and closer. Did that really matter either? He would never truly be ready for what awaited. It didn't matter how much time he had to prepare. He hadn't in fact done any real preparations the entire time. All he did was let his nervous thought process continue its cycle for hours on end.  
  
~  
  
Rimmer nervously approached the Captain's office a half hour before the court hearing was to start.  
  
The receptionist gave him a glare. "I assume you're here for the court hearing?"  
  
Rimmer nodded.  
  
"It's going to be held down that hallway." She said, pointing.  
  
Rimmer looked in the direction she pointed. He had never been down that hallway.  
  
"Last door on the left."  
  
"Thank you." He said softly. He slowly began walking towards the door. He almost couldn't turn the doorknob once he reached it, but managed to find the little strength he needed. His limbs felt like jelly, and he was finding it a challenge to even support himself enough to walk.  
  
The room was empty. Rimmer examined the features of this room. It was unlike any other room he had seen on Red Dwarf. This room looked like a miniature version of a court room, except instead of being made of wood, was made of the same generic gray metal as most of the ship was made out of. Rimmer took a seat on one of the benches. He commenced biting his already worn nails. Soon this room would be full of people.  
  
The door slowly opened. Rimmer was startled away from his nail biting. In the doorway stood Olivia dressed in her beige uniform. She made eye contact with him, but had a blank expression. Rimmer tried to show her a small reassuring smile, but it wasn't easy.  
  
She seemed to be reluctant that they were the only ones in the room, and came and sat next to him on the bench, far enough away that they weren't touching. "You're early" She said softly.  
  
"You are too… did you sleep well?" What was the point in asking that?  
  
Her stare answered the question without words. They both remained silent as people began filing into the room. First the captain, then several officers that Rimmer didn't know. Then finally Todhunter, followed by a few more officers. Everyone took their appropriate seats. Rimmer could tell Olivia was more than uncomfortable. He wanted to reassure her that things would be ok, but he couldn't even do that to himself.  
  
"Alright, everyone is here, I think we are ready to begin." Started Captain Hollister. "In a normal situation I am able to dispense punishments, and a court hearing hasn't been necessary, but I believe that in this case it is necessary to hold one. I have collected a random panel of officers to act as a jury. Each side will be defending themselves. You will find that this is a very informal court."  
  
The captain started out by briefly explaining the case to the panel of officers. All Rimmer could do was stare at Olivia. This had to be very incredibly hard on her. How could he do this? This was almost too much for him, and it had barely begun.  
  
"Miss Angeledis… Would you like to start off explaining how this first started?" The captain asked.  
  
Rimmer nodded at her in reassurance.  
  
"Well… Uh… I first arrived here in a stasis pod…" She said softly. She paused for a few moments. "I had Amnesia, so I had very little memory of who I was or how I got here…" She seemed unable to say anymore.  
  
Rimmer looked up at Todhunter. His stare seemed to be penetrating Olivia. Leaving her hypnotized and unable to speak. Rimmer wanted to shout 'Don't look at her!' but was unable to say anything. Silence filled the small court room, and the provocative stares continued from Todhunter.  
  
"Miss Angeledis?" The Captain repeated in hopes of getting her to talk again.  
  
"And…umm… I started getting my memory back in my dreams…" She paused again.  
  
"Listen, Captain… We can't just sit here and wait for her to speak. I for one, have business to attend to." Said Todhunter.  
  
"No, Officer Todhunter, your schedule for the day has been cleared for this hearing." Said the captain.  
  
"Right…" He mumbled, followed by another nasty stare at Olivia.  
  
Rimmer's insides were boiling. He just hoped that she had the strength to continue. He gently rubbed her shoulder as an attempt to calm her down. He had no idea what he was doing, but thought maybe his touch may be the least bit helpful.  
  
~  
  
His eyes were burning her. There he was across the room. Her word against his. This was the moment she had feared. Everyone seemed to be waiting for her to say something. She had only said a few sentences. Her mouth opened, but the words didn't seem to come out. Why was it so hard to tell what happened? Why couldn't she just say 'He raped and attacked me and should go to the brig!'?  
  
"Listen, Captain Hollister, I don't think Miss Angeledis is in any position to talk. How about we move on and begin to review the evidence." Said Rimmer, probably in an attempt to save her.  
  
"Well, Rimmer" Olivia noticed the captain didn't address him as 'Mr. Rimmer'. "Why don't you continue where she left off, and I don't want any lies from you."  
  
"Yes sir… I am unable to tell you Olivia's personal perception of what happened, and what happened in her past, but I can say that the surveillance tape will indeed prove that Officer Todhunter entered Olivia's room uninvited, and then attacked her."  
  
Oh god, they were going to play the tape!  
  
"Alright then." The Captain motioned for one of the officers to start playing the tape on the vidscreen. Everyone's eyes were watching her on the dimly lit screen. She couldn't help but shiver.  
  
Rimmer noticed. "Are you okay?"  
  
"No." she whispered. That seemed to answer it all. Olivia couldn't watch the screen. Her screaming could soon be heard from the speakers along with the metal clang. She suddenly couldn't hold back her tears.  
  
"Objection!" Shouted Todhunter from the other side of the room. "Those tapes are for officer's eyes only! Not to mention anyone can edit a tape to make it look like I did it! Hell, I could make it look like my grandmother beat her up! This should not be used as evidence!"  
  
There were the lies. She knew they would come sooner or later. Unlike Rimmer, she didn't honestly believe a court hearing would help her at all. She knew the jury, who were all officers, and all most likely friends of Todhunter's, would never believe her! Why had she even come here? What was she doing here?  
  
"Olivia, tell them what happened! They need to hear it from you!" Rimmer quietly urged her.  
  
"I can't, Rimmer." She said, while wiping her tears on her palm. Being in this room, being here was worse than being tortured. She needed to escape. Her words would not be her escape. All she could do was run. Run out of there. Run as far from there as possible. Without another word, Olivia got up from her seat on the bench and rushed for the door. Once she was out of there she continued to run past the receptionist's desk and onto the lift. She pressed for it to close and pressed a random floor. It was empty. She silently sat as the lift traveled downwards. Where was she going? What was she going to do? These were questions she couldn't answer, she just had to get out of that room. Had to escape Todhunter's penetrating stares! She needed to escape reality.   
  
She remembered Lister telling her about the A.R. machines. A.R. meaning artificial reality. That seemed like just what she needed. She reached across the lift and pressed the button for the A.R. suites. Hopefully she could hide out there for awhile. Sure it wasn't a permanent escape, but it was a break. The doors opened, and she ran out as fast as she could. She didn't want to be found. Not by anyone.  
  
~  
  
Rimmer sat there for a moment, nearly stunned. Everyone else in the room seemed to be equally stunned. Where was she going? Rimmer could hear Todhunter laughing from the other side of the room and it was almost too much to handle. "I don't see what's so funny! Do you have any idea what you put her through!?" Rimmer shouted. Followed by him dashing from the room after her. He looked around, she was no where in sight. "Did you see where she went?" he asked the receptionist.  
  
"You mean that girl who just ran out of there…? She went on the lift."  
  
"Thank you." Rimmer sighed and pressed the lift button. She was probably long gone by now. It no longer mattered that they had just left in the middle of their court hearing. He just wanted so badly for her to be okay. He just wanted to help her. That's all he wanted from the court hearing, but it obviously had the opposite effect. The lift door opened and it was empty as he expected. Maybe she went down to her quarters. Rimmer pressed their floor and sat down on one of the uncomfortable seats, feeling very discouraged. How could he tell her or show her that all he wanted was for her to feel safe again, and not constantly threatened. How could he make that happen? He had given that his best shot and it had ultimately failed him like everything else in life. Even when he truly cared for someone else he still failed. "What can I do, Olivia?" he mumbled. Not as if this would help anything. The lift soon stopped on his floor and he hopelessly walked out, rushing in the direction of her sleeping quarters.   
  
He knocked on her metal doors hard enough to hurt his knuckles. No answer. "Olivia! Open up!" He shouted. There was still no answer. She must not have been in there. Rimmer sighed and stuffed his hands in his pockets. Where else could she be? He slowly walked towards his sleeping quarters. Once he was inside he shut the door.  
  
"Holly!"  
  
Holly's faced beamed on the screen. "Yes, Arnold?"  
  
"Holly… can you put a trace on Olivia?" Said Rimmer, voice filled with sorrow.  
  
"What's a trace?" Asked Holly.  
  
"We've been through this! Just find her!" He shouted in an outburst of anger.  
  
"Right, now I remember… Just a moment." The expression on Holly's face changed to make it look as if he was working really hard, either that or constipated.  
  
"Well?"  
  
"She's in the A.R. suite." Holly replied, removing the disturbing look from his face.  
  
Rimmer smiled for a moment. "Thanks." He leapt up from his bunk and dashed back over to the lift.  
  
What could she possibly be doing there? It didn't take him very long to figure that out. She was trying to escape reality with artificial reality. Some people never left A.R. and all its wonders. He knew Lister enjoyed playing zero-g kickboxing, and would play it for hours on end, but Rimmer knew that wasn't what she was doing. She would not have just gone there to play a game of zero-g kickboxing. Rimmer sighed loudly again. He knew going into the A.R. machine would appeal to her. Her current reality was unbearable, so it made sense for her to escape into some computer generated reality.  
  
~  
  
Rimmer stepped into the small room filled with A.R. Machines. Most of them sat vacant, all but one. There was Olivia in the corner. She looked completely helpless sitting there with the mask and restraints on. He watched her a few moments as she moved around in her seat. Where was she in the game? What other world was she visiting? Did it make her happy? Rimmer wondered if maybe he should just leave her there. She probably didn't want to leave. She deserved to feel happy and safe, and it seemed the A.R. machine was the only place she could do so. He had tried to create a safer environment for her by getting rid of Todhunter, but he had failed. She deserved the A.R. machine. She deserved to be away from him.  
  
"Hey, man."   
  
Rimmer looked up suddenly. He was almost sure he was alone. It was Lister. "Lister? What are you doing here?"  
  
"Holly told me what happened."  
  
"Oh did he…" Rimmer sighed, looking back over at Olivia.  
  
"Yeah, he did, man."  
  
"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" Rimmer grumbled.  
  
"You really like her, don't you… I mean why else would you defend her against Captain Smeg-for-brains."  
  
"Well…"  
  
"We all do, man… Wish I could have helped, too."  
  
"I wanted her to be safe. She deserved that…"  
  
"You know, Rimmer… In all the time I've known you, I've never seen you care about anyone else but yourself. If I'm not mistaken I'd say you're in love."  
  
"Preposterous! I mean… I couldn't… she…" Rimmer was silent.  
  
"Never thought I'd see the day."   
  
"You're wrong… were…friends." said Rimmer, rather unconvincingly. He wasn't sure if that was true or not.  
  
"Well man, lovers or not, you can't just let her stay in there and rot."  
  
"What do you suggest I do?" Asked Rimmer.  
  
"I dunno' man… turn it off?"  
  
"That doesn't work. You have to turn it off from the inside."  
  
Lister shrugged. "Well I hope she decides to come out eventually…" Lister began to walk out the door, but not before winking. "Remember man, there is an escape switch on the gloves. Just clap your hands."  
  
Rimmer sat down in the machine next to hers. He knew what Lister was suggesting, and what he had to do. He began pulling on the gloves, restraints and finally the mask. The mask that would dominate his mind.  
  
~  
  
Rimmer wasn't exactly sure where he was, or what world he was in. It was as if he were in an old town. It looked like a picture from his 20th century telegraph pole collection…without the telegraph poles… Where was Olivia? The place seemed as if it was right from a book. The roads were dusty, lined with forest and small brick buildings.  
  
Rimmer began to explore. It seemed nearly deserted. All that could be heard was the rustling of bushes in the wind. It was as if no one was here at all.  
  
"Rimmer? What are you doing here?" Alright… not no one. Olivia was here.  
  
"Olivia!"  
  
"Did you follow me in here?" She asked, sounding defensive again.   
  
Her voice nearly broke his heart. He stepped closer to her and looked her in the eye. "You don't belong here."  
  
"Well I sure as hell don't belong out there!" She shouted, making the trees rustle louder.  
  
"What is this place?"  
  
"I don't know, but it's peaceful and safe."  
  
"It's not real."  
  
"What does that matter? What has reality ever done for me?" Her voice was shuddering as if she were going to cry.  
  
Without warning Rimmer rushed over to her, grabbing her hands and slapping them together.  
  
~  
  
"What are you doing!" She shouted.  
  
Rimmer looked around, they were both now back sitting in the A.R. suite. He watched as Olivia peeled off her mask and looked at him.  
  
"What did you do?"  
  
"Listen… I can't force you to stay out of there, all I can do is ask you to stay." He said softly.  
  
"I don't see any reason to stay." She said, disconnecting the restraints and removing the gloves. She got up and began to stretch out as Rimmer did the same.  
  
"I know that, Olivia… And I probably wouldn't if I were you either. You have been through so much." Rimmer was surprised by what he was saying. The words seemed to flow naturally when he talked to her. Right now he didn't even have to think, he was just so relieved to see her, and relaxed by how simple it was to say this.  
  
"I know you meant well with the whole court hearing thing, but I knew no one would believe me." She said softly again. She on the other hand didn't seem to be having as easy a time talking. She still seemed incredibly distressed and under pressure and unable to handle it.  
  
"I'm sorry about that… the court hearing wasn't my idea. I just wanted you to be safe so badly and I didn't know what to expect. I was kind of just hoping the captain would just arrest him on the spot."  
  
"Well… that wasn't going to happen." Her voice could almost not be heard.  
  
Rimmer could do nothing but gaze at her. Even with all the pain she wore, she was still so beautiful. Her skin so gentle after being tortured so much. He wished he could be the one to protect her, to make her smile again. It was all he really wanted. It was like her smile could cure any pain inside of him. This was the only woman he wanted to impress, to be with, to protect. He had never felt so overwhelmed before. His breathing became heavier.  
  
Olivia remained silent. They both just stared at one another. Rimmer had so much to say to her and almost know way of forming his puzzling thoughts into words. He was afraid if he tried he would just end up saying gibberish. He couldn't help thinking of Lister's words.  
  
…"If I'm not mistaken I'd say you're in love."…  
  
The voice echoed in his head. How could Lister possibly have any idea of what he felt? Could it be even close to that simple? He desperately searched for some kind of meaning for what he was feeling. Some possible explanation.  
  
Rimmer could see Olivia's watery blue eyes looking right into his. Was she feeling the same amount of longing that he was? Was it possible? He shut his eyes for a moment and refreshed his lungs with a massive deep breath. His pulsed continued to rage. It was like his heart was pounding against his rib cage. "I… I want you to stay…" he repeated.  
  
"I know…" She seemed unconvinced.  
  
Rimmer took a step closer to her. He Didn't seem to be in control of his body anymore. Slowly she did the same. Rimmer gently placed his palms on her shoulder's. He could feel her warmth through the material. He took another deep breath. She was not protesting him being that close to her. Rimmer wasn't really sure what to do next, should he follow his fear or his overwhelming instincts? His instincts would do anything for her. They would walk hundreds of miles in the desert if it would make her smile. He had never been in this situation before.  
  
His motions were almost beyond his control. He began to inch closer to her, all the while he could feel his entire body burning. It was incredibly overwhelming, yet very pleasant. His lips were now inches away from hers. He could feel her soft breath on his face. He almost couldn't believe it when he softly pressed his lips against hers.   
  
They were both so stunned at first they could not move from the position. Rimmer gently moved his arms from her shoulders to around her body, embracing her tightly as he kissed her.   
  
She slowly lifted her arms and nervously positioned them around his waist. After what seemed like an eternity the two of them broke apart. Rimmer took a deep breath, completely shocked. He couldn't believe what had just happened. Slowly he let go of her warm body, and continued looking into her eyes.  
  
They seemed changed, much warmer than before. She even allowed herself a smile. "I'll stay." She said, softly.  
  
It was all he needed to hear.  
  
THE END  
  
~  
  
AN: Its over! Oh my god, its over! I started this about a year ago! I never thought I would actually finish it! Wow! That's really sad… I want to write more! I had so much fun writing this fic! I really appreciate all the reviews I got for it. Wow… I still can't believe its over! Well, you might possibly expect to see a sequel coming to fanfiction.net some time… we'll see what happens. Its actually over… I don't know weather to be happy or start crying! This was nearly 40,000 smegging words… or was it? Who knows… I stopped counting! 


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